Dr. Raj Govindaiah, senior vice president and chief medical officer at Memorial Health System, said for nine months, health care workers have lived through the stress of the pandemic.
"We shut down. We stopped doing things and people said, 'Why'd we do that, nothing happened,'" Govindaiah said. "Well, it's happening now."
Govindaiah said the recent surge of cases has hit health care systems hard.
"It's taking its toll on everyone in the community," Govindaiah said. "It's taking its toll on our hospital care, and it's taking an immense toll on the people who are providing that care."
According to Govindaiah, positivity rates in Sangamon County are at an all-time high.
"COVID-19 positive test results, you can see the percentage, it skyrocketed, reaching as high as 26 percent," Govindaiah said. "Right now, we're at 22.6 percent for the last seven days. This is all-together too high."
This story appeared on WAND on November 20, 2020.
