Los Angeles – A new study finds worrying news about the Delta variant and those who are not vaccinated against the virus coronavirus. This happens with new COVID infections in the US averaging over 150,000 daily, up 21% in the last 14 days.
Patients with COVID are overwhelming coast-to-coast hospitals, causing a summer surge. According to a UK study published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, the Delta variant, which is more contagious than the original “Alpha variant” that spread around the world, more than doubles the risk of hospitalization of the unvaccinated.
The researchers studied more than 40,000 cases of COVID between March and May, when the Delta variant came out in Britain, to compare hospitalization rates. The findings were very similar to preliminary data from a Scottish study indicating that the Delta variant caused more hospitalizations.
“The results suggest that patients with the Delta variant had more than twice the risk of hospital admission than patients with the Alpha variant,” according to the UK study. “Assistance in emergency care combined with hospital admission was also higher for patients with the Delta variant, which showed greater use of emergency care and hospitalization services for hospitalized patients. “.
Andrew Selsky / AP
Meanwhile, in emergencies like one in Atlanta, ambulances are being moved away.
In seven states, more than 90% of ICU beds are full, according to federal data. Alabama has zero beds left in the ICU, causing a surge in vaccines.
Nationally, deaths from COVID have increased by 355% since early July. Louisiana hit a record high of 139 deaths in a single day on Aug. 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In South Carolina, a funeral director said they have never seen so many deaths due to COVID.
“It puts stress not just on us, but on the families we care for,” director Robert Borning told CBS Florence, South Carolina, affiliated with WBTW-TV.
But there are survival stories. One of Colorado’s first COVID patients, Jacob Larson, once again performed a serenade on the doctors who saved him.
“The biggest“ thank you ”that anyone can give their doctor is to go get the COVID vaccine,” said doctor and hospitalist Dr. Aiman Rauf, who treated Larson.
Larson, who spent 20 days in the hospital, received the vaccine.
Meanwhile, nearly 60% of eligible people in Los Angeles County have been vaccinated so far, although less than 70% of experts say it is necessary for herd immunity.