BREAKING: MCS Board authorizes in-person class modification; Memorial Health System not at capacity
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Marietta City Schools Board of Education authorized responsive flexibility this evening due to recent increases in confirmed coronavirus cases in Marietta.
“If we need to stay where we are, I need to be able to do that,” said Superintendent Will Hampton when asking the board to support a modification to the district’s learning plan for blended and remote instruction.
Students in Cohorts 1 and 2 are scheduled to combine for in-person instruction beginning next week, but the resolution, passed by the board tonight, means that more full reopening could be delayed.
“The number of COVID cases has gone up dramatically in Marietta,” said Hampton. “They’re not all isolated to the college.”
But, in sharing caution relaying information he has received from the city health department, Hampton referenced the local intensive care bed capacity.
Memorial Health System clarified following the meeting.
“The community has seen quite an uptick, but we're not at capacity,” explained Jennifer Offenberger, associate vice president of service excellence. “We do not currently have any covid patients in our ICU. We do have some in our COVID unit, but none need ICU care at this time.”
She confirmed the increase in patients reported over the last couple of weeks has similarly impacted Marietta Memorial Hospital, with an expansion of the unit for the novel virus up from the four-bed minimum maintained.
“We were at our (four-bed) capacity, we've opened up the rest of that unit,” she said, noting the full unit has 12 beds specifically designated. “We have the ability to decrease or increase the capacity of our unit as needed.”
According to the Ohio Department of Health, Washington County is currently using 63.10 percent of its ICU capacity.
See more in the Tuesday edition of the Times.