The United States has surpassed another Covid-19 milestone, as data show that one in 500 people living in the United States has died of the virus since the pandemic began.
Nearly 664,000 people had died of the virus in the U.S. on Tuesday evening, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, following an increase in cases and hospitalizations, especially in the southern states, caused by a combination of the Delta variant and low rates of vaccination.
According to the New York Times, approximately one in four hospitals in the United States has intensive care units that are at least 95% full.
Recently, Christina Salazar, a registered nurse at a hospital in Orlando, Florida, where patients have been stopped in the emergency room, was diagnosed with compassion fatigue. The mental health problem occurs when providers assume the stress or trauma of their patients.
She is not alone at AdventHealth Altamonte Springs Hospital, which until recently did not have enough hospital beds and canceled non-emergency surgeries due to a wave of Covid-19 cases. He said many of his colleagues have called sick recently.
“They give us incentives to get into work and not call or take time off, but it’s not always worth your mental health,” Salazar told the Guardian in a text message. She works in the progressive care unit and has only been a nurse for a year.
The pressure on Florida Hospital and its staff is not unique, especially among southern states. In Alabama, only 40% of the state has been vaccinated and no beds are available in intensive care units, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Cullman Regional Medical Center staff, located 50 miles north of Birmingham, Alabama, called 43 hospitals in three states to find an ICU bed for Ray DeMonia, a 73-year-old man who spent most of his life in the antiques and auctions business. , according to his obituary.
Staff finally found a bed 200 miles away from Cullman, in Meridian, Mississippi, and DeMonia was flown there. He died on September 1st.
“In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you don’t, in an effort to free up resources for non-Covid-related emergencies,” his family wrote in the obituary.
Dr. Scott Harris, head of the Alabama Department of Public Health, told the Associated Press last week that the state is facing a “real crisis” due to an overwhelming number of patients who are not vaccinated and need intensive care. .
“Our main concerns are low vaccination rates,” Harris told the New York Times. “That’s why we’re here. Virtually all of our deaths are people who aren’t vaccinated.”
The problem is not limited to the south. Southern Ohio Medical Center, located about 80 miles south of Columbus, posted a statement on Facebook on Sept. 11 alerting the community that its ICU was ready and that there may not be enough beds available for people with chest pains that have suffered a stroke. or has had a car accident.
“Like many hospitals, including others in our region, we are stretched to the breaking point,” the statement read, which also included a petition for people to be vaccinated, put on masks and distance themselves socially.
States with higher mask mandates and vaccination rates than Alabama also feel negative effects from states where people have not taken as many precautions against Covid.
For example, hospitals in Washington state, where more than 60 percent of the population is vaccinated, have taken in patients from neighboring Idaho, where the vaccination rate is only 40 percent. Even without Idaho patients, Washington hospitals have already delayed some procedures due to the rise in Covid cases, the New York Times reported.
“We certainly need our friends in the Idaho government to do more to preserve the health of their citizens, because we know their crisis is becoming our problem,” Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said. Democrat. “I’m asking the people of Idaho to take some of the security measures, such as masking requirements, like the ones we have in Washington, so that we can help both states reduce this horrible pandemic.”
In Florida, the number of new Covid cases fell for a second week in a row, the state Department of Health reported Sept. 10.
This is a welcome for Salazar, who has seen patients suffer in his hospital. The Orlando Sentinel reported that a 41-year-old man who had chest pain after a recent open heart surgery spent seven hours in a wheelchair outside in the heat of 90 degrees to avoid a room of full wait for patients with Covid-19 symptoms. He couldn’t get the pain medication he said he needed.
“It’s stressful because I’m sitting here, I’m in pain,” Harris told the Sentinel. “If you have pain, you will not get any pain medication [while waiting to be seen]. The doctors’ hands are tied, people are upset with the doctors, but it’s the law of the hospital … they’re doing their best ”.
Salazar works to keep patients calm, which he said is particularly important among people with Covid, who often have difficulty breathing.
“I think it’s all about patience with each other,” said Salazar, who received the Pfizer vaccine and plans to receive a booster vaccine in October. “It’s what we need more than ever.”