Covid-19 patients overwhelm busy hospitals as Delta variant spreads



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The latest wave of Covid-19 hospitalizations is crashing into patients returning for treatment for other illnesses, overloading some facilities and draining their doctors and nurses.

Surgeries and treatments for cancer, heart disease and other common ailments have rebounded this year, filling beds in many hospitals. At the same time, other respiratory viruses, such as RSV, have reappeared with public gatherings, adding to hospital pressure.

Now, some hospitals are treating more Covid-19 patients than ever before as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads, especially where vaccination rates are lower. This new chapter in the protracted pandemic has exhausted hospital staff.

“The physical, mental and emotional toll of this pandemic is taking its toll,” said Linnette Johnson, chief nurse at AdventHealth Central Florida, who said last week she would stop non-essential surgeries to free up staff and health. space for Covid-19 patients.

The resurgence risks stretching hospitals and healthcare workers so little that patient outcomes could suffer, medical and disaster planning authorities have said. Influxes of patients can leave hospitals without enough doctors, nurses, space or equipment to treat patients as they normally would.

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