Covid Takes Hold And Hospitals Fill, Again, As Infections Hit 6-Month High
Hospitalizations are up, forcing some health systems to raise alarms over capacity, as new U.S. daily covid cases soared over 100,000 -- a level not seen in six months. Austin, Texas, was reported to have only six ICU beds available Saturday, to serve a city of 2.4 million people.
USA Today:
Hospitals Raising Alarms As Admissions Spike
As COVID-19 cases surge, some hospitals across the country are raising the alarm over hospitalization rates that may push facilities to capacity. The number of people hospitalized with the virus in the U.S. has more than tripled over the past month, from an average of roughly 12,000 to almost 43,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "The delta variant is ripping through the unvaccinated," Mary Mayhew, CEO of Florida Hospital Association said. Hospitals in Jacksonville and Orlando last week crashed through their pandemic peaks, and hospitals in Miami-Dade County are at or approaching record coronavirus hospitalizations this week, Mayhew said. (Santucci, Fernando and Segarra, 8/7)
Bloomberg:
U.S. Covid Cases Reach Six-Month High Even As Vaccinations Rise
New Covid-19 cases in the U.S. have rebounded to more than 100,000 a day on average, returning to the levels of the winter surge six months ago. Weekly cases on Friday passed 750,000, the most since early February, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg. Almost 135,000 weekly cases were reported in Florida on Friday, a record for a state that makes up about one in five U.S. cases. Louisiana said 1% of its entire population had been infected in the last two weeks as the delta variant spreads, particularly among the unvaccinated. (Fisher, 8/7)
Bloomberg:
U.S. City With 2.4 Million Population Has Just Six ICU Beds Left
With ICU beds down to a single digit, Austin sounded the alarm Saturday, using its emergency alert system to let residents in the Texas capital city know that the local state of the pandemic is “dire.” The Austin area -- with a population of almost 2.4 million people -- has just six intensive-care unit beds left, state health data show. A total of 313 ventilators are available. “The situation is critical,” Public Health Medical Director Desmar Walkes said in a statement Saturday, warning of a “catastrophe” as it sent the notification to residents at noon through text messages, emails and phone calls. “Our hospitals are severely stressed and there is little we can do to alleviate their burden with the surging cases.” (Chua, 8/8)
Nashville Tennessean:
Morgan City In St. Mary Parish, Louisiana Is A COVID-19 Hotspot
She gasped for her last breath in her living room recliner, her lungs choked by coronavirus. It was Aug. 1 at 4:30 a.m. when St. Mary Parish coroner Dr. Eric Melancon got the call, another COVID-19 death on the Cajun coast. In this parish of 51,000 residents, Melancon had rolled out to six COVID-19 deaths in July, a 200 percent increase compared with June. And that was just the beginning. In the first six days of August, COVID-19 and its more contagious delta variant claimed 10 lives. (Sharon and Guidry, 8/9)
In other news about the spread of the coronavirus —
AP:
Official: Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Is The Busiest In Years
Law enforcement officials say the first few days of this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally have been among the busiest they’ve seen. Some 700,000 people were expected to celebrate their enthusiasm for motorcycles at the 10-day event that kicked off Friday in the western South Dakota city. “There are more people here than in the 31 years I’ve been doing this,” Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin told the Rapid City Journal on Saturday. (8/8)
AP:
New Orleans Jazz Fest Canceled Again Due To COVID-19
With new COVID-19 cases surging in Louisiana, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival won’t be returning this year after all, organizers said Sunday. The festival, which traditionally is held in the spring, had been scheduled to run Oct. 8-10 and Oct. 15-17 this year after being canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. (8/8)
KHN:
Déjà Vu? Consumers Scramble For Covid Tests In Hard-Hit Areas
Andrea Mosterman, an associate professor of history at the University of New Orleans, was already dismayed that she had to wait three days to secure a covid-19 test at a Walgreens near her home after being in contact with someone who had tested positive. But on Sunday, when she showed up at the pharmacy drive-thru, she was told the store had run out of test kits and none was available anywhere in the city. “I told them I had a reservation, but they said it didn’t matter,” she said. (Galewitz, Bluth and Bichell, 8/6)
Detroit Free Press:
Michigan Deer Exposed To Coronavirus: What It Means
As researchers continue to observe the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on humans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is studying its effect on wildlife. A recent study from the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service discovered that white-tailed deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania had been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. White-tailed deer are found in every county in Michigan, according to the Department of Natural Resources. (Davidson, 8/9)
AP:
Yankees COVID-19 Outbreak Continues As Rizzo Tests Positive
Newcomer Anthony Rizzo has become the latest Yankees player to test positive for the coronavirus. Rizzo is the fourth New York player within the past week to be sidelined by COVID-19, joining starting pitchers Gerrit Cole and Jordan Montgomery and catcher Gary Sánchez. (Fleisher, 8/8)
The New York Times:
For Seniors Especially, Covid Can Be Stealthy
The population over 65, most vulnerable to the virus’s effects, got an early start on Covid vaccination and has the highest rate in the country — more than 80 percent are fully vaccinated. But with infections increasing once more, and hospitalization rising among older adults, a large-scale new study in the Journals of Gerontology provides a timely warning: Covid can look different in older patients. “People expect fever, cough, shortness of breath,” said Allison Marziliano, lead author of the study. ... But when the researchers combed through the electronic health records of nearly 5,000 people, all over the age of 65, who were hospitalized for Covid at a dozen Northwell hospitals in March and April of 2020, they found that one-third had arrived with other symptoms, unexpected ones. (Span, 8/8)
Reuters:
U.S. Nurses' COVID-19 Grief Pours Out Online: 'I Just Don't Want To Watch Anyone Else Die'
Nichole Atherton couldn't take it anymore. The intensive care nurse watched helplessly last year as COVID-19 sufferers died in her Mississippi hospital - slowly, painfully and alone. Then in July she was again confronted with a wave of deathly ill patients, even though almost all likely could have saved themselves by getting the coronavirus vaccine. "People want to argue about masks and vaccines and freedom. I just don't want to watch anyone else die," the 39-year-old mother of two wrote on Facebook a few days ago. "I see their faces in my nightmares. And it feels like it is never ending." (Ax, 8/7)
