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BALTIMORE (WJZ) — As Maryland’s COVID-19 hospitalizations proceed to hover supra 1,000, Gov. Larry Hogan and wellness officials connected Wednesday directed hospitals to taxable pandemic plans and launched a surge operations halfway to negociate furniture capacity.
The Maryland Department of Health besides laid retired contingencies successful lawsuit the fig of COVID-19 patients continues to rise, asking hospitals to escaped up beds and standard backmost non-emergency surgeries if hospitalizations scope 1,200, and to rotation retired their pandemic plans if that full hits 1,500.
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In addition, the Maryland Board of Physicians has fixed its blessing to a program to fto wellness attraction providers who are licensed retired of authorities to signifier successful Maryland and to supply impermanent licenses to retired healthcare workers. The Maryland General Assembly volition reappraisal the plan, which could instrumentality effect arsenic aboriginal arsenic Jan. 1.
The actions present connected a committedness Hogan made past week erstwhile helium vowed to take exigency enactment to assistance Maryland’s hospitals grapple with a rising caseload. They came arsenic COVID-19 hospitalizations topped 1,000 for the sixth time straight.
As of Wednesday, Maryland had 1,151 COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to Department of Health data. Of those patients, 869 are adults successful acute attraction and 269 successful intensive care. Nine children are successful acute attraction and 4 are successful intensive care.
“As I announced past week, we are continuing to show the emergence successful COVID-19 hospitalizations and usage each instrumentality astatine our disposal to marque definite our hospitals person the resources they request to hole for this and aboriginal surges,” Hogan said.
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The champion mode for Marylanders to support themselves, the politician said, is by getting their vaccinations and booster shots.
The surge operations halfway was formed to assistance hospitals woody with surges including the menace of a imaginable influx of unvaccinated patients. It volition enactment with hospitals to negociate COVID-19 surges and the transportation of patients to alternate attraction sites.
The caller measures are intended to assistance Maryland contend with the convergence of the Delta and Omicron variants, the second of which is believed to beryllium up to 4 times much transmissible than different strains of COVID-19.
Among different things, the authorities has asked that nursing programs accelerate graduation for qualified students, and that registered nurses who are licensed out-of-state be allowed to signifier successful Maryland.
The University of Maryland School of Nursing has allowed students to postgraduate aboriginal and plans to walk $5.1 cardinal connected recruitment. Notre Dame of Maryland University is offering an accelerated programme to assistance students gain their nursing degrees successful conscionable 15 months.
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Earlier this month, the state announced its archetypal confirmed cases of the Omicron variant among 3 radical from the Baltimore metropolitan region.
CBS Baltimore Staff
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