Suresh Gunasekaren (KCRG TV photo)
The state’s coronavirus website shows 461 Covid patients were being treated in an Iowa hospital last night. That’s 30 percent more than a month ago and the third day in a row that Iowa has set a new record for coronavirus hospitalizations.
Suresh Gunasekaren, the CEO of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, spoke with KCRG TV about the latest statistics. Iowa hospitals are treating more patients, but he noted fewer are in Intensive Care compared to earlier in the pandemic.
“Many physicians around the state are very good at managing Covid patients at home, so they have a higher level of care before they even come into the hospital,” he said, “and so I think that a lot of these strategies are allowing us to more successfully treat Covid patients.”
University of Iowa Hospitals served as a test site for remdesivir, one of the therapies now available for Covid patients. A new study released Thursday found the medication cut recovery time for Covid patients by five days. It’s one of the drugs prescribed to President Trump.