COVID-19 cases are continuing to rise across the country and hospitals in several states say they are reaching their breaking points.
On Tuesday, the U.S. recorded 106,871 new cases of the virus with a seven-day rolling average of 116,722, which is the highest figure recorded since February 6.
It’s also a 214 percent increase from the average of 37,056 reported three weeks ago, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
Deaths, which are a lagging indicator, have also been rising after holding steady for several weeks.
There were 819 COVID-19 deaths recorded on Tuesday with an average of 520, an 89 percent increase from the 274 average seen 21 days prior.
However, fatality levels still remain far below previous peaks with half as many deaths as the 1,200 average being recorded during the November 2020 surge before COVID-19 vaccines were made available.
The rapidly escalating surge, caused by the Indian ‘Delta’ variant has caused a shortage of nurses and other front-line staff in virus hot spots that can no longer keep up with the flood of unvaccinated patients and are losing workers to burnout and lucrative out-of-state temporary gigs.
At least four states – Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Oregon – all have more people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 than during any other surge, and nursing staffs are badly strained.
And, unlike other points in the pandemic, hospitals now have more non-Covid patients for everything from car accidents to surgeries that were postponed during the outbreak.
On Tuesday, the U.S. recorded 106,871 new cases of the virus with a seven-day rolling average of 116,722, which is the highest figure recorded since February 6
Deaths have also risen with 819 recorded on Tuesday with an average of 520, an 89% increase from the 274 average seen 21 days prior
At least four states – Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana and Oregon – all have more people currently hospitalized with COVID-19 than during any other surge
Over the last two weeks, Florida’s seven-day rolling average of new Covid cases has risen 157 percent from 10,452 to 26,950.
There are currently 15,255 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, according to data from Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a record-high for the state.
In Florida, virus cases have filled so many hospital beds that ambulance services and fire departments are straining to respond to emergencies.
Some patients wait inside ambulances for up to an hour before hospitals in St Petersburg, Florida, can admit them – a process that usually takes about 15 minutes, Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton said.
At Westside Regional Medical Center in Plantation, Florida, the number of COVID-19 patients has doubled each week for the past month, wearing down the already short staff, said Penny Ceasar, who handles admissions.
The hospital has converted overflow areas to accommodate the rise in admissions. Some staffers have fallen ill with COVID-19.
‘It’s just hard. We’re just tired. I just want this thing over,’ Ceasar said.
Meanwhile, hospitals are facing staffing shortages.
Miami’s Jackson Memorial Health System, Florida’s largest medical provider, has been losing nurses to staffing agencies, other hospitals and pandemic burnout, Executive Vice President Julie Staub said.
The hospital’s CEO says nurses are being lured away to jobs in other states at double and triple the salary.
Staub said system hospitals have started paying retention bonuses to nurses who agree to stay for a set period.
To cover shortages, nurses who agree to work extra are getting the typical time-and-a-half for overtime plus $500 per additional 12-hour shift. Even with that, the hospital sometimes still has to turn to agencies to fill openings.
Over the last two weeks, Florida’s seven-day rolling average of new Covid cases has risen 157% from 10,452 to 26,950 (left). There are currently 15,255 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19, a record-high (right)
In Louisiana, the seven-day rolling average currently sits at a record-high 5,749, a 51% increase from the 3,807 average recorded two weeks prior (left). The state has been reporting record-high hospitalizations nearly every day since August 2 with currently 2,835 patients hospitalized (right)
In Oregon, cases have risen to 1,384 average cases per day, a 98% increase from 698 seen 14 days prior (left). On Wednesday, the Oregon Health Authority reported 635 patients are hospitalized, surpassing the previous high from November (right)
‘You are seeing folks chase the dollars,’ Staub said.
‘If they have the flexibility to pick up and go somewhere else and live for a week, months, whatever and make more money, it is a very enticing thing to do. I think every health care system is facing that.’
Nearly 70 percent of Florida hospitals are expecting critical staffing shortages in the next week, according to the Florida Hospital Association.
In Louisiana, the seven-day rolling average currently sits at a record-high 5,749, a 51 percent increase from the 3,807 average recorded two weeks prior.
The state has been reporting record-high hospitalizations nearly every day since August 2 with currently 2,835 patients hospitalized, the highest single-day total.
Similarly to Florida, emergency medical services are struggling to hospitals with enough beds for patients.
One person who suffered a heart attack was bounced from six hospitals before finding an emergency room in New Orleans that could take him in, said Dr Joe Kanter, Louisiana’s chief public health officer.
‘It’s a real dire situation,’ Kanter said. ‘There’s just not enough qualified staff in the state right now to care for all these patients.’
Last week, Gov John Bel Edwards reimposed the state’s indoor mask mandate.
During a meeting with the Louisiana Board of Regents during a special meeting Tuesday, Kanter warned that stricter COVID-19 mitigation measures could be implemented if the surge can’t get under control, reported WBRZ.
‘I would expect more aggressive mitigation measures to be considered if we do not peak within the one or two-week timeframe,’ he said.
In Oregon, cases have risen to nearly record levels. Currently, the state is seeing 1,384 average cases per day, a 98 percent increase from 698 seen 14 days prior.
On Wednesday, the Oregon Health Authority reported that 635 patients are currently hospitalized, a record-high and surpassing the previous high from November.
Gov Kate Brown announced on Tuesday that state employees must be fully vaccinated by October 18 or six weeks after a COVID-19 vaccine receives full federal approval, whichever is later. Her office planned to announce a statewide indoor mask requirement on Wednesday.
‘Oregon is facing a spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations – consisting overwhelmingly of unvaccinated individuals — that is quickly exceeding the darkest days of our winter surge,’ Brown said.
‘When our hospitals are full, there will be no room for additional patients needing care.’
