Children’s National Hospital operated at full capacity over the weekend as it saw an increasing number of RSV cases, said a hospital official.
All of the 323 beds at the D.C. hospital were filled, with 22 of those patients having COVID-19, Dr. David Wessel, the facility’s chief medical officer, told WRC-TV (Channel 4).
RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, infects the lungs and breathing passages and includes symptoms such as runny nose, decrease in appetite, coughing, sneezing, fever and wheezing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Though the virus usually peaks during the fall and winter months, cases have spiked this year as children return to in-person learning for the first time in months, WRC reported.
Wessel said Monday the hospital was still close to capacity after some patients were discharged, but would be able to accommodate all who came.
“We’ve been planning for this for many weeks,” Wessel said, WRC reported. “We work closely with the city and the Department of Health to put those surges plans in place. For example, we may have more acute patients stay in the emergency department. We also have surge capacity outside the operating rooms and in recovery areas as well.”