As Covid-19 case rates continue to surge in December, Gov. Tom Wolf has requested additional support from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Wolf asked FEMA for hospital, nursing home and ambulance "strike teams" to supplement health care personnel in areas where hospitals are seeing the highest admissions. He also requested 1 million rapid at-home Covid-19 tests and increased supplies of monoclonal antibodies.
"Our health care system is strained from COVID-19 cases and further exacerbated by persistent staffing shortages across the sector," Wolf said in a statement Wednesday. "Today, I outlined key areas that my administration, along with health care systems, believes would garner the most impactful support for our deserving health care professionals who have been on the front lines battling this pandemic for 22 months."
Over the seven-day period ending Monday, Pennsylvania averaged 8,199 new cases of Covid-19 per day. Statewide, intensive care units are near capacity, with just 14% of adult and 10.3% of pediatric beds remaining available.
In Lancaster County, the Covid-19 inpatient count is 186, a record high.
