Rising COVID-19 infections threaten unvaccinated people and some hospitals

Coronavirus infections are on the rise in the United States, driven by the delta variant and threatening to strain hospitals in areas with low vaccination rates.

Over the past week, the seven-day average of confirmed COVID-19 cases jumped 69% to 26,306, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Deaths increased 26% to 211 and hospitalizations increased 36% to 2,794.

Most states are seeing at least small increases in the number of daily cases. An analysis of CDC data by the Washington Examiner found that only 10 states – Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Vermont – had not experienced an increase in number of cases from July 7 to 14.

The delta variant, which is said to have originated in India, is at the origin of the current wave. According to research in the UK, it could be more than twice as infectious as the original virus. The CDC reported that in early July, the delta variant accounted for 58% of new COVID-19 cases.

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Almost all of the recent cases have occurred among those who have not received a COVID-19 vaccine.

“There is a simple public message: Get vaccinated or get COVID,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

“This is becoming an unvaccinated pandemic,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said in a briefing Friday.

An Associated Press analysis of CDC data found that more than 98% of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States in May and more than 99% of those who died were not vaccinated. Of the 12 states with 40% or less of their populations vaccinated, eight have seen daily cases increase by 48% or more over the past week. Two, Alabama and Georgia, saw cases double during that time.

Many of these states are in the South and Midwest, which Benjamin says carries additional risk due to underlying poor health.

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“Many poorly immunized states have poorer health outcomes – a high incidence of diseases like heart disease and diabetes,” he said.

People with pre-existing health conditions are much more likely to be hospitalized and die from COVID-19.

Susan Hassig, professor of epidemiology at Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, said she didn’t think the current increase in cases would be as bad as the wave the United States had. United experienced last summer. But she warned that with just over 50% of the population still not fully vaccinated, cases could increase dramatically.

“Where people are not vaccinated, even if only a small percentage of them are infected, it will still be a lot of people,” Hassig said.

Some hospitals are already feeling the pressure. In Springfield, Missouri, health officials have applied for funding from the state government to set up another site of care for COVID-19 patients. “The increase in serious illness is expected to exceed hospital capacity,” officials said in a statement. About 231 people are being treated for COVID-19 at hospitals in the Springfield area.

A total of 1,357 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Missouri, a 44% increase in the past two weeks, according to data from the New York Times. Missouri registers an average of 1,779 daily cases of COVID-19, a 60% increase from last week.

Arkansas has the third-lowest vaccination rate in the country, with only about 35% of residents fully vaccinated. There are 669 COVID-19 patients in Arkansas hospitals, including 119 on ventilators, the highest levels since February.

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At least two hospitals in the state, Mercy Fort Smith and Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas, are reporting that their COVID-19 units are at full capacity.

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Keywords: Health, Coronavirus, CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Hospital, Hospitals, Vaccination, Missouri, Arkansas

Original author: David Hogberg

Original location: Rising COVID-19 infections threaten unvaccinated people and some hospitals