According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Omicron variant, which is extremely contagious, is driving hospitals to their limits in nearly two dozen states.
According to figures, at least 80 per cent of staffed hospital bed were occupied in 24 U.S. states on Thursday, which includes Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts and other states.
Worse, data showed that at least 85 percent (in 18 states and Washington, D.C.) of adult intensive care units were filled. The most severe shortages of beds were in Texas, Missouri, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Texas.
The I.C.U. is under pressure As the Omicron variant has caused a nearly vertical increase in hospitalizations and infections, it is putting pressure on I.C.U. The nation as a whole and 26 of its states have reported more coronavirus infections in the last week than in any other seven day period.
Over 803,000 coronavirus cases were reported daily in the United States during that period, an increase of 133% from two weeks earlier, according to a New York Times database. Additionally, 25 states have reported their highest weekly caseloads. Deaths have increased by 53 percent to an average of 1,871 per day.
That has helped push the country’s average rate of hospitalizations above last winter’s peak. Over that week, hospitalizations for people who have tested positive for coronavirus reached a record high of more than 148,000 per hour. According to the Times database the numbers are rising the fastest in Alabama, Florida and Louisiana, Puerto Rico, as well as the U.S Virgin Islands.
(The hospitalization numbers include patients who have tested positive for the virus after being admitted for conditions not related to Covid-19. However, there is no national data that shows how many people fall into this category.
The White House has sent more 350 military doctors, nurses and other personnel to 24 states since Thanksgiving. This was in addition to the plans to send 1,000 additional service members to six of the most difficult-hit states. This is in addition the more than 14,000 National Guard personnel deployed in 49 states to assist staff hospitals and other facilities, he said.
On Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota said the state would spend $40 million in federal funds to hire more staff to help hospitals there for the next 60 days because “we know we’re going to continue to see a sharp rise in cases from the Omicron variant.” Minnesota’s hospitals have been struggling to keep up since the fall, when the National Guard was called in to help with a flood of patients infected by the deadlier Delta variant.
Also Wednesday, Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon said she was sending an additional 700 members of the state’s National Guard — bringing the total deployed to 1,200 members — to help hospitals deal with a rise in coronavirus patients. “Our hospitals are under extreme pressure,” she wrote on Twitter.
Our hospitals are under severe pressure. Current hospitalizations exceed 700, and daily COVID-19 cases are alarmingly high. To help, I am adding 700 to my staff. @oregonguard members—for a total of more than 1,200—to Oregon hospitals.
— Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) January 12, 2022
One day earlier Gov. Janet Mills, Maine, announced that she would activate 169 members the National Guard to assist with hospital capacity constraints. This joins more than 200 members who are already deployed in the state.
“I wish we did not have to take this step,” Ms. Mills said in a statement, “but the rise in hospitalizations — caused primarily by those who are not vaccinated — is stretching the capacity of our health care system thin, jeopardizing care for Maine people, putting increased strain on our already exhausted health care workers.”
Source: NY Times
