Oklahoma Doctors, Nurses Working Through Pandemic On Christmas Day

Working on holidays is a reality that nurses and doctors expect each year when they sign up for the job. However, with COVID-19, this year has made things a little more complicated.

This week, Oklahoma hit a new peak number of hospitalizations from COVID-19. When it comes to care, it's all-hands-on-deck. This time of year, there is typically a dip in elective surgeries and that has been the case.

When it comes to ICU and COVID units, they've remained very high. OU Medicine's Chief COVID officer Dr. Dale Bratzler spoke to News 9 about how people can show their appreciation to healthcare workers this holiday season.

"If we really want to show our appreciation, what we really need to do is prevent the spread of the disease. Do the things we know will prevent the spread," Dr. Bratzler said.

Because of the Christmas and New Year holidays, Dr. Bratzler said Oklahoma could see some of the highest COVID-19 totals since the start of the pandemic around the second week of January.