DellaVolpe also revealed that the patients being admitted into the hospital with COVID-19 are "getting younger."
"The last few weeks have just been overwhelming is how I'd describe it," he told CNN. "There's been more and more patients than we really know what to do with and the patients are getting young and they're more sick."
"It's gone from 50s and 60s for the first wave to I've lost track of how many people in their 20s," DellaVolpe shared.
As for ECMO, Methodist Hospital is using this method to keep patients off ventilators. "I think the ventilator really causes a lot of harm. It causes harm in general but certainly causes harm when we're talking about patients with COVID," DellaVolpe said.
"You're artificially pushing more air into your lungs and causing more damage that way," he added.
When it comes to the increase in coronavirus cases, medical professionals can't say what specifically led to the spike.
"I think people in March and April were extremely frustrated with being inside and as soon as those restrictions lifted they wanted to get out. Some protected themselves, some didn't and now we're seeing the result of that," Gemmill told CNN.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are 2,679,230 cases of coronavirus in the U.S. and a total of 128,024 deaths as of Thursday.
The first cases of a mysterious respiratory illness — what is now known as COVID-2019, a form of coronavirus — began in Wuhan, China in late December. Since then, the virus has spread worldwide, leading the World Health Organization to declare a public health emergency, the first since the zika epidemic in 2016.
As information about the coronavirus pandemic rapidly changes, PEOPLE is committed to providing the most recent data in our coverage. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. For the latest on COVID-19, readers are encouraged to use online resources from CDC, WHO, and local public health departments. PEOPLE has partnered with GoFundMe to raise money for the COVID-19 Relief Fund, a GoFundMe.org fundraiser to support everything from frontline responders to families in need, as well as organizations helping communities. For more information or to donate, click here.
Source: Read Full Article
