San Diego's Scripps Health reported Tuesday their hospital system saw its highest number of COVID-19 related deaths in a single day this Labor Day weekend, and strained hospital workers are pleading for the community to get vaccinated.
"It is just truly heartbreaking. This could be avoided by something so simple," said Dr. Chief Medical officer at Scripps Health, Dr. Ghazala Sharieff, who encouraged San Diegans to get vaccinated.
The hospital system says they have seen 21 COVID-19 related deaths since last Thursday. Of those lives lost, only one patient was vaccinated. That patient also had several underlying health conditions.
On Saturday alone, Scripps Health reported six COVID-19 related deaths, their highest single-day tally since the pandemic began.
Get top local stories in San Diego delivered to you every morning. >Sign up for NBC San Diego's News Headlines newsletter.
At the same time, hospitals are dealing with staffing issues and continuous demand for COVID-19 treatment.
"Our healthcare workers are exhausted, they are tired, they don't want to pick up extra shifts, and frankly they're saying, 'You know what? We did our part before, you know. Last time there wasn't a vaccine. Now there is,'" said Dr.Sharieff.
The concerns loom as medical experts expect another uptick in COVID-19 cases due to the Labor Day holiday weekend and upcoming holidays and gatherings.
"Remember we've got Halloween coming up and we've got Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and I am horrified that we might actually repeat what we did last year because we seem to keep doing that," said Dr. Sharieff.
