COVID cases in Idaho An increase of more than 40% in the past two weeks prompted health officials to activate the state’s “crisis care standards” on Tuesday to deal with some overburdened hospitals.
Idaho is one of the states with the lowest vaccination rates, and the state reported that “a massive increase in COVID-19 patients requiring hospitalization” has led to a shortage of personnel and beds. Health officials said in a statement that at least 10 hospitals in the two public health districts will be under “crisis care standards,” but this measure may spread across the state.
Dave Jepsen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, said in a statement Tuesday: “For the rest of the state, we are still dangerously close to crisis care standards.”
There are only nine intensive care beds available in Idaho. This means that the number of patients infected with COVID-19 exceeds the processing capacity of the hospital.
“Crisis care standards are the last resort. This means that we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare system cannot provide the treatment and care we expect,” Jepsen said.
He added: “The best tool we have to reverse this situation is to get more people to vaccinate and wear masks in crowded public places indoors and outdoors. Please choose to get vaccinated as soon as possible-this is your avoidance of Covid-19. The best protection for hospitalization.”
NBC News noted The “crisis care standard” will allow hospitals to assign scarce resources such as intensive care units to patients most likely to survive, while arranging other patients in hospital conference rooms instead of wards. It also allows hospitals to make other changes in patient care.
“Unfortunately, we haven’t really met our normal standards for a while,” said Dr. Robert Scoggins, chief of staff of Kootenai Health, the largest hospital in northern Idaho. explain, Tell the Associated Press.
With a population of approximately 1.8 million, Idaho is the 14th largest state. It is one of the most right-leaning states in the country.
On Tuesday, the total number of COVID-19 infections in the United States exceeded 40 million, reaching an average new case that has not been seen since January.
