EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Cases of coronavirus in Monroe County continue to climb. There are now more than 300 cases and 10 deaths in that part of the Poconos.
Health officials at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono tell Newswatch 16 that they have seen an increase in the number of patients coming in with symptoms of COVID-19 since last week.
Doctors say this is expected because they are able to test more people at offsite locations.
"We are seeing an increase in volume, and again it's not unanticipated. We are screening more, so we are going to see more patients," said Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono President Elizabeth Wise.
Patients are being tested at the hospital in East Stroudsburg and two other offsite locations.
Wise says while most patients are coming in with common symptoms, doctors are monitoring some other ones, too.
"Low-grade fever, dry cough, we are starting to see some gastrointestinal symptoms," Wise said. "People are feeling fatigued, and so those are some symptoms that we recently added."
Wise says while the hospital is still maintaining the influx of patients, they are preparing for a possible surge.
"There's a lot of unknowns with this virus, so really it is a day-to-day assessment of what is happening. Hopefully, we are flattening the curve of people staying at home and social distancing, but I will tell you we are planning, for, in the event that we do have a surge, we certainly need to plan for that."
We know a lot of people are curious about COVID-19 recoveries. Lehigh Valley Hospital Pocono officials say they are still discharging people in stable condition. However, once they are discharged, all information about recovery is reported to the Pennsylvania Department of Health.