Staff Strain

Coverage now moves to huntsville - where health leaders are asking you to be smart about your celebrations.

They said with an already strained health care system - coronavirus spread from holiday gatherings could cause hospitalizations to jump in some areas.

Waay 31's ashley carter is live now with their message to the community.

Ashley?

The president of crestwood hospital said right now - community transmission of coronavirus is significantly worse than what we saw during the state's july spike.

That's why she and other hospital officials say it's important to try and find different ways to celebrate thanksgiving this year so the holiday doesn't lead to an even greater surge in cases.

Huntsville hospital c-e-o david spillers says their facilities in decatur, the shoals, and marshall county are reporting that a third of all hospitalizations are coronavirus patients.

In order to keep bed space available - both huntsville hospital and crestwood hospital said they're monitoring whether they can continue to provide elective surgeries.

But in the meantime - both facilities said the pandemic is continuing to take a toll on their staffing levels.

Spillers says a lot of their hospitals are already overhwhelmed - so now it's more important than ever to do what you can to contain the virus.

"please be careful.

Do your best to try to stay safe and help us get through this.

We want to be there to help you when you need us.

We don't want to be overwhelmed.

We're getting close to being overwhelmed if the numbers continue to rise like they are."

The madison county health officer says hospitals do have a surge plan in place to handle these type of situations.

She said that allows patients to get high quality care despite the high number of hospitalizations.

Live in hsv ashley c waay 31 news.