US hospitals collapse under delta surge: 25% of intensive care units are over 95% full

The current spate of COVID-19 cases driven by the hypertransmissible delta variant is straining hospitals across the United States, especially in the South. Twenty-five percent of the country’s hospital intensive care units are now over 95 percent full. That percentage is up from 20% in July and just 10% in June, according to the New York Times data tracker.

The peak in intensive care follows an increase in cases and hospitalizations. The average number of new daily cases in the country rose from around 12,000 per day in late June to around 150,000 in mid-September. Hospitalizations have also increased, from an average of nearly 17,000 a day in early July to around 100,000 now. Although cases and hospitalizations are starting to level off or decline slightly, they remain extremely high. Deaths, meanwhile, are on the increase. Over the past two weeks, deaths have increased 40% to the current average of nearly 1,900 per day.

Most cases and almost all hospitalizations and deaths remain among the unvaccinated. In the United States, approximately 60,000 people have died from COVID-19 since early July. With highly effective vaccines available free of charge, almost all of today’s deaths are preventable.

Now, alongside the outbreak, public health experts fear that the strain on health systems could lead to additional suffering and death in non-COVID patients. Hospitals in several states have been forced to ration treatment and adopt crisis care standards.

Alabama hospitals have exceeded the capacity of intensive care beds by 100 percent. The Alabama Hospital Association reported on Tuesday that there were 1,592 intensive care patients in the state and only 1,549 staffed intensive care beds, a surplus of 43 patients. The seven-day positive test average for Yellowhammer state is 19%, suggesting transmission is still extremely high. Alabama is one of the least vaccinated states in the country, with just 40% of the population fully vaccinated.

Affecting everyone

Typically, the most overcrowded hospitals and intensive care units are in the south, where vaccination rates are relatively low and transmission from the delta has skyrocketed. In Texas, 169 of 506 reporting hospitals have intensive care units over 95% full, up from just 69 in June, the Times notes. In Florida, 24 hospitals reported having more intensive care patients than beds over the past week. In Mississippi, 94% of intensive care beds statewide are full.

But the South is not the only place where hospitals are overwhelmed. Last week, the Idaho health department activated its crisis care standards at 10 northern hospitals. Likewise, Alaska’s largest hospital, Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, implemented crisis standards over the weekend. The hospital announced the decision in a two-page letter sent on Tuesday.

“The acuity and number of patients is now beyond our resources and our ability to staff beds with qualified caregivers, such as nurses and respiratory therapists,” according to the letter, which was signed by Providence chief of staff Dr Kristen Solana Walkinshaw. [W]We must prioritize scarce resources and treatments over those patients who have the potential to benefit the most. We have been required to develop and adopt policies and procedures to ration medical care and treatment, including dialysis and specialized ventilatory support … Due to this shortage, we are unable to providing life-saving care to all who need it. “

The letter also said that with the crash of COVID-19 patients, some people seeking emergency care were sitting for hours in their cars outside the hospital, waiting to be seen by a doctor.

In Illinois, the state’s public health department first reported that one of its health regions was running out of intensive care beds. The southern region (Region 5), which includes 19 hospitals, serves about 400,000 people, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Illinois Healthcare Professionals Collaborative Action Team issued a statement Tuesday said: “This is not ‘an unvaccinated pandemic’ but a pandemic that affects everyone as emergency and routine health care crumbles for an area.”