‘I’m a little concerned:’ Beaufort Memorial doctor discusses tripledemic impacts ahead of the holidays

BEAUFORT, Sc. (WTOC) - While some hospitals around the country are struggling…

”There’s a lot of respiratory stuff out there right now.”

One hospital in the Lowcountry isn’t seeing the same tripledemic impacts.

“So knock wood, so far locally we’ve done pretty well,” said Dr. Kurt Gambla. Dr. Kurt Gambla is the Chief Medical Officer here at Beaufort Memorial.

”We’re pretty comfortable right now with our capacity in the ICU and on the floors.”

Researching data elsewhere, he knows they’re fortunate.

“Our marker is how many patients we’re admitting and while we’re seeing an increase from the last two weeks over the two weeks before, the numbers are not crazy.”

Although he’s comfortable now, he knows holiday travel and the big gatherings that with it, are about to pick up.

”I’m a little concerned. Again we’ve seen an uptick the last couple of weeks in the Covid cases and the holiday milieu is sort of a recipe for more exposure.”

He’s clear this isn’t an emergency situation, just something to be aware of as you get on the road to visit loved ones. In the spirit of the holidays, Dr. Gambla found a silver lining for your gatherings too.

“The good news I guess, if there could be good news about it, you only have to remember one set of rules and it’s the same set of rules that we’ve been talking about.”

Of course, hand washing is huge and you’ll be more at risk crowded in an indoor space than spread out around an outdoor one.

Dr. Gambla also says if you’re looking to get your immune system a holiday gift, flu and Covid vaccines are a great way to go.

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