DCH Coronavirus Update 4-23-21

Outpatient Antibody Infusion

With COVID-19, much of the focus has turned to the vaccine, but individuals are only eligible to receive it if they have never had the virus or it has been a certain amount of time since being sick with the virus. What about those who are currently infected and are at a higher risk of progressing to a more severe case of COVID-19?

The FDA has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for outpatient antibody infusion therapy and many individuals have had positive results from receiving it. This therapy is for those who are 55 or older, currently have COVID-19 and meet certain conditions. It is available at DCH and requires physician approval.

Details on who might qualify can be found here: https://www.dchsystem.com/covid-19/outpatient-antibody-infusion/

If you think you currently have COVID-19 and feel you might be a candidate for this therapy then please discuss this option with your physician.

COVID-19 Information

To protect patient privacy, DCH has established a minimum threshold of five for reporting numbers of inpatients with laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19.

DCH Health System internal counts as of 2:05 p.m. on 4/23/21:

• 11 inpatients within the DCH system who are positive for COVID-19.
• Five or fewer inpatients who are positive for COVID-19 are being treated in the ICU.
• Five or fewer inpatients who are positive for COVID-19 are on ventilators.
• Five or fewer who are positive for COVID-19 are on a BiPAP.
• 8,678 (cumulative) unique positives for COVID-19 tests including results from the ED, triage tent and inpatient. These individuals are not necessarily in the hospital.
• 41,594 (cumulative) unique negatives for COVID-19 at DCH sites.
• 10,480 (cumulative) positive COVID-19 at DCH sites. These individuals are not necessarily in the hospital.
• 78,613 (cumulative) negative tests at DCH sites.
• 3,048 inpatients (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have been discharged.
• 547 inpatients (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have died at DCH. This is not an indication of the cause of death, only that the individuals were positive for COVID-19 at the time of death.
• 308 Tuscaloosa County residents (cumulative) who were positive for COVID-19 have died (per the Alabama Department of Public Health).