US Hospitals Running Out Of ICU Beds Amid Surge In Covid-19 Cases Due To Delta Variant

Driven by the fast-spreading Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, the surge in Covid-19 cases is taking a toll on some states' intensive-care units in the US.

New Delhi: The Covid-19 pandemic seems to be far from over in the United States, which is witnessing a spike in novel coronavirus cases and overwelming the healthcare system.  Driven by the fast-spreading Delta variant of the novel coronavirus, the surge in Covid-19 cases is taking a toll on some states' intensive-care units, a report in the Bloomberg said.

Despite the widespread availability of Covid-19 vaccines, the Covid-19 situation in several parts of the country is just as bad as November 2020, when the US reported 4 million cases.

What's the Covid-19 situation in the US?

Patients with confirmed or suspected Covid-19 are taking up more ICU beds than a year earlier in 15 states, according to Department of Health and Human Services data. Colorado, Minnesota and Michigan have 41%, 37% and 34% of ICU beds occupied by Covid-19 patients, respectively, the data shows, as per the Bloomberg report.

The rise in cases has led to proportionately less space in hospitals for those patients with other potentially deadly ailments.  "Many of our physicians are at a breaking point," Ali Mokdad, a professor with the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation told Bloomberg. "It's not easy to be day in and day out in an emergency room, in an ICU, looking at someone who is dying because he or she is not vaccinated," he further said.

The situation has been worrying for the Northeast states, where cases began surging a few weeks after the Midwest and Rocky Mountains. Michigan currently has the highest per-capita case rate in the US. However, Governor Gretchen Whitmer does not plan to issue any new restrictions on public gatherings, said spokesperson Bobby Leddy.

The US has been reporting more than 1,000 average deaths daily for more than three months. In New York, rural areas are seeing positive-test rates of more than 8 per cent, while New York City remains below 2 per cent, the Bloomberg report said.

Experts said protection due to Covid-19 vaccines was waning, and the country could face yet another major wave of the pandemic this winter. In view of the rising cases, US regulators have expanded eligibility for booster shots of Covid-19 vaccines to all adults. A new Covid-19 pill from Pfizer Inc is also expected to aid US' Covid-19 fight.