Bed Shortage impacts Winston Medical Center

Bed Shortage impacts Winston Medical Center

Show open show open show open show open he warned us.

Now it appears to be happening.

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Mississippi's leading health advocate, dr. thomas dobbs, says hospital beds are full across the state - especially those in critical care areas.

During a news conference this morning, dr. dobbs reported 12 major hospitals in mississippi have zero icu beds.

Dobbs, the director of the state health department, had cautioned mississippians about a potential surge in covid 19 cases following thanksgiving gatherings with extended family now he says to avoid all social gatherings.

Now he says to avoid all social gatherings.

"we're very concerned after the thanksgiving holiday that we're seeing transmissions from kids into older adults and then also their parents and grandparents.

And i'll tell you numerous times this past week, when i've personally diagnosed or tested somebody for coronavirus, they got it from their children or they got it from their grandchildren who were asymptomatic.

So this is a phenominon that really concerns us going into post thanksgiving."

Dr. dobbs also cautioned mississippians against large gathers during the holiday season...including church services and dinner parties.

The lack of critical care beds at major hospitals around the state is putting smaller hospitals without their own icu facilities in uncharted waters.

Wcbi reporter stephen pimpo spoke with one today and has more on the story.

"icu bed utilization is up, hospital bed utilization is up state-wide.

We're setting records everyday and it's the wrong kind of records we're setting right now."

The record number of covid-19 hospitalizations in mississippi and the shrinking number of icu beds means some patients won't be transferred to a higher level of care.

"this influx of covid patients state-wide and even in winston county is just getting worse and worse and i don't when we're going to have anything or get any relief down the road."

Winston medical center is one of many rural hospitals in mississippi that operates without an icu.

Their usual method of relying on larger facilities and mississippi med-com to find critical care beds has become increasingly difficult with 12 state hospitals showing zero openings as of tuesday.

"it's not been very good because they're stacked up and there's just not places to put some of these people sometimes."

Over the last 10 days...ceo paul black says they're been running about half to three quarters full of positive black also says that because of those high covid numbers in their senior care facilities and staffing concerns, they've had to change their other backup plan of moving non- covid-19 patients to their 10-bed general psych unit.

Instead, they're looking to use their smaller procedure area that gives them three extra beds.

For the 7th straight day, mississippi sees more than a thousand new covid-19 cases.

The state department of health is reporting 1,141 new cases today and 29 deaths.

In our area, lee county has the most new cases with 58.

Lafayette county has 33.

Lowndes is reporting 32.

And there are 28 new cases in monroe county.

There are 1,008 covid-19 patients being treated in hospitals across the state.

238 are in icu.

54 mississippi counties now have additional restrictions including a mask mandate.

In a press conference today, governor tate reeves addressed the addition of 13 more counties to his mask mandate.

Some of those new counties are in the wcbi viewing area, like monroe, noxubee, and oktibbeha counties.

Reeves he's still not considering a state-wide mandate...he says it's best to keep making decisions on a county-by- county basis.

"it's bad.

It's bad everywhere, and it's certainly bad here in the great state of mississippi."

"there are those who believe that if i will just write on a piece of paper three words, 'state-wide mask mandate,' that all of a sudden there's 100 percent compliance and all is good.

Now, there is an enormous amount of data that proves that that is just not true."

"i don't want to put anybody under additional restrictions.

This is not the reason i ran for governor so that i can enter executive orders and require things that i really don't even... don't even that i really don't even... don't even like."

Reeves says no more than 10 people are allowed to gather indoors within the 54 "hot-spot" counties.

Health officials projected the covid-19 surge in the fall would be bad and in november alone...about a third of the nation's total cases were reported in just 30 days.

Hospitalizations have more than doubled since the beginning of november....23- states are seeing record numbers.

C-n-n's stephanie elam reports.

The coronavirus pandemic -- not abating.

At least forty three states are over the crucial five percent test positivity threshold.

More than ninety- six thousand americans now hospitalized with the coronavirus - another high for the country.

Gov.

Mike dewine "we have to do everything we can during this very serious time when our hospitals are really hit to slow down the transmission."

Ohio governor mike dewine said more than five thousand people are hospitalized with coronavirus in ohio-- the most for the state throughout the entire pandemic.

Stacey morris/covid unit nurse manager, akron general "our numbers have risen so quickly and so drastically."

Upper valley medical center nurse jamie giere "we're seeing healthy individuals come in and they decline so quickly."

This field hospital in rhode island is starting to receive patients -- after hospitals in the state surpassed their capacity - dr laura foreman "we're expecting to be taking care of a lot of folks here."

"we didn't have to be here knowing that had we as a population come together and all stayed safe and stayed distanced stayed homed and stayed masked, that we could have avoided this."

And in california - the recent surge of new cases forcing los angeles county last weekend to implement another stay at home order for its ten million residents.

The governor warning new restrictions could be coming as the state predicts some hospitals could be near capacity by christmas without intervention.

Dr. mark ghaly "people just want to be done with this, but it doesn't take a break, just because we're tired of it."

"we need to recalibrate for a short period of time, what we do to keep this transmission down."

As experts warn thanksgiving travel and gatherings will likely cause a worsening surge in coming weeks, the c-d-c vaccine advisory committee expected to make recommendations later today on who will receive the vaccines first when they are available.

Dr. moncef slaoui "what's important to note is the number of those is the amount of vaccine that we have is still limited in comparison to the needs.

So it's going to take a while for all americans who need it on a priority level to get it."

Drug-makers pfizer and moderna have submitted their vaccines to the f- d-a for emergency use authorization.

The f-d-a will consider pfizer's vaccine on december 10th and moderna's one week later on december 17th.

Dr anthony fauci -- urging americans to get a vaccine: dr. anthony fauci "if you want to be part of the solution get vaccinated."

First look stinger dr. anthony fauci "if you want to be part of the solution get vaccinated."

First look stinger first look summary: we're now into december, a winter month, and conditions will be more winter-like for sure over the next week.

Highs will be in the 40s and 50s while overnight lows look to be mainly in the 30s and 20s.

Areas of showers are possible thursday through friday morning.

Dry weather returns for the weekend and early next week.

Tuesday night: clear with another hard freeze.

Lows in the mid 20s.

Calm wind.

Wednesday: mostly the frigid temperatures the past few nights have people pulling out extra heat sources -- like space heaters.

And firefighters say some of them can be dangerous.

Space heaters can warm up your room, but they can be dangerous if they're not used properly.

The fire inspector at the starkville fire department says it's not unusual for them to respond to fires started by space heaters during cold weather.

He says one of the most critical mistakes people make is using extension cords for power.

Always plug it directly into the outlet.

Don't use a surge protector; just straight into an outlet.

And only use one appliance per that outlet.

You know, so don't put two space heaters on that one outlet.

On space heaters - the biggest thing is we need to keep them three feet from anything that's combustible, like the bedroom the bed, the blankets.

You need to cut them off before you go to bed.

If you leave the room you need to cut them off.

Make sure no fire gets started by them.

Wade also says wade also says space heaters are not designed to warm large areas.

Top this is how city council meetings have looked for the past few months.

But this month all that changes in columbus.

Today mayor robert smith says the two regularly scheduled december city council meetings will be held virtually.

Council members and city staff members will not attend in-person due to covid-19 precautions.

The sessions will also be closed to the public and the media.

The council will continue to broadcast live on facebook one of the meetings is going on now.

The other is scheduled for december 15th.

Stinger voters in amory will decide the fate of a tourism tax, one week from today.

Wcbi's allie martin tells us what the extra revenue would fund in this report from amory.

Amory's tourism tax senate bill was approved in 2014 and it allows for a two percent tax on gross sales of restaurants, and hotels and motels.

Revenues can only be used to promote tourism and for the parks and recreation department.

"we feel like it is something that will be very beneficial to our facilities moving forward, our programming moving forward, our events moving forward."

Revenue from the tax would not go into the general fund, but into a special fund.

Mayor brad blalock says the tourism tax would put amory on a level playing field with nearby cities that already have it.

"so when our residents go to these neighboring communities and they eat out they are actually supporting parks and recreation in that community and what we're asking is, not only our residents,, but those who come in and use those facilities currently, throughout county or state, when they come eat with us, or stay with us, they actually help support our parks and rec facilities they are using as well as helping us to develop more."

Standup bridge if voters approve the tourism tax, mayor blalock says the city would see how much revenue is generated that first year before any money is spent."

"for instance, if we did a new ball field, we would do an extended year bond, maybe fifteen years, where we use a portion of tourism tax funds to finance those funds, and a portion of the tourism tax funds to finance other projects and events in town."

Only registered voters in amory can vote in the election.

A sixty percent margin of those who vote is needed for the measure to pass.

In amory, allie martin wcbi news absentee voting is underway through saturday at the city clerk's office at amory city hall.

Stinger needed for the measure to pass.

In amory, allie martin wcbi news absentee voting is underway through saturday at the city clerk's office at amory city hall.

Stinger weather open summary: we're now into december, a winter month, and conditions will be more winter-like for sure over the next week.

Highs will be in the 40s and 50s while overnight lows look to be mainly in the 30s and 20s.

Areas of showers are possible thursday through friday morning.

Dry weather returns for the weekend and early next week.

Tuesday night: clear with another hard freeze.

Lows in the mid 20s.

Calm wind.

Wednesday: mostly sunny in the morning with increasing clouds in the afternoon.

Highs in the low to mid 50s.

Winds ese 5- 10 mph.

Wednesday night: mostly cloudy.

Lows in the mid 30s.

Thursday: cloudy with a 40-50% chance of showers.

Highs in the low 50s.

Thursday night: areas of showers.

Milder lows in the 40s.

Friday: a 30% chance of showers during the morning.

Mostly cloudy.

Highs in the upper 40s to around 50.

Friday night: partly cloudy.

Lows in the mid to low 30s.

Weekend: mostly sunny to partly cloudy.

Highs in the 50s, lows in the 30s.

Follow @wcbiweather on facebook, twitter, instagram, and the wcbi news app stinger state got it's first win of the year on then men's hardwood... next in sports ben howland on dj stewart's ceiling... spx open ???take sports gfx???

Mississippi state head coach ben howland got his 500th career win in monday's 68-51 win over texas state..the summary: we're now into december, a winter month, and mississippi state head coach ben howland got his 500th career win in monday's 68-51 win over texas state..the bulldogs were able to bounce back after a few losses to open the season against clemson and liberty..

It was the dj stewart show at the hump.... he led the bulldogs with 23 points... shooting 9 for 14 from the field.... and five for six from beyond the arc... stewart has delivered for howland's team in the first three games of the year putting up 18 points per game... and the head man thinks he's just scratching the surface of his ceiling 00-05 howland says: he's a really good player a great offensive player really intelligent.

Takes pride in being a good passer.

He's our best perimeter defender him and abdul are our best defenders.

His ceiling is like woodard, weatherspoon and perry where he will have a chance to get drafted.

The sixth ranked state women's basketball team started off it's season 1-0 after defeating jackson state sunday... they'll return to action wednesday night at the hump when they host new orleans... it was a good start to the nikki basketball team started off it's season 1-0 after defeating jackson state sunday... they'll return to action wednesday night at the hump when they host new orleans... it was a good start to the nikki mccray penson era... despite multiple schedule changes to start the year due to covid-19... the jackson state matchup was last minute and their southern miss game... originally scheduled for the 12th.... was cancelled due to covid-19 issues on the golden eagles side..

Despite their ability to overcome the adversity... mccray penson wants to see some improvement... mccray penson says: the fluidity of what i want isnt there yet.

We need to rely on the second effort things like rebounds defense and extra possessions.

Those intangibile things to get us over the hump.

Until we're able to get ourt offensive execution to where it needs to be.

It's been a challenge but the foundation of energy and competitive spirit is what you need to hang your hat on right now.

This weekend this weekend marks the end of the high school football season.

In class 4a, the louisville wildcats won't be playing under the friday night lights but instead the saturday morning lights.

Take vo at 11 a-m saturday, the 12-1 powercats face off against 10-3 poplarville for the 4a title.

This game is a rematch of the 2018 state championship that louisville won 25- 20 over the hornets.

Head coach tyrone shorter says the key to their season has been the defense.....those guys will have to have another great game for them to bring the gold ball home.

"they really good at what they do.

That system that they run is a system that you don't see much of.

A lot of people don't run it.

It's hard to simulate it at practice.

We go to play sound football and smart football.

We can't let our speed hurt us because in this type of game against this team, our speed can hurt us.

We'll have to slow it down a little bit.

It's going to be a challenge to slow these guys down because we have to play assignment football because of the offense that they run."

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This week's lineman of the week honors are going to the oxford chargers... it's been a heck of a season for them... we'll hear from chris cutcliffe later this week on wcbi becau8se they'll be taking on oak grove in a rematch of the 2019 6a state title game this weekend in jackson... last year they outscored the warriors 28 nothing in the second half to get the win..

This year they are undefeated and coming off a 31-27 victory over clinton in a game that went down to the wire... congrats to the chargers and they're our lineman of the week... when we return...chief meteorologist keith gibson will have a last look at your forecast.

You are watching wcbi news at six.

The city of tupelo recognizes the new "miss usa" with a special proclamation.

Tupelo mayor jason shelton proclaimed december first as "asya branch day" in the all america city.

Asya is a former miss tupelo, and last month, she was crowned "miss usa" during the competition held at graceland.

The 22 year old says she is honored to have a day named after her in tupelo.

Asya branch will compete in the miss universe pageant sometime in 2021.

She is the first woman from mississippi to be crowned miss usa.

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