Follow our latest updates on the California Recall Election and Governor Newsom.
As the pandemic-fueled campaign to recall Gov. Gavin Newsom of California heads into its last week, its lead proponent said he has been sidelined with the coronavirus.
Orrin Heatlie, 52, a retired Republican sheriffs sergeant from Yolo County, said he was at home recovering from a bout of the coronavirus.
Thought I was immune as Ive had it before, Mr. Heatlie said in a text message, adding that he is unvaccinated. Then spent 13 hours in a warm truck traveling back from Wyoming with a friend who came down with it on the trip.
The pandemic has played a major role in fueling the recall, which had been regarded as a long shot when Mr. Heatlie and a small group of grass-roots Tea Party activists began circulating petitions in 2019.
Their initial complaint with the governor arose from his stances on the death penalty and immigration, which they disagreed with. But when Mr. Newsom initiated stay-at-home orders, classroom closures and other health restrictions to slow the spread of the virus, recall supporters added those upheavals to their list of grievances against him.
In November, a judge granted them an extension to continue circulating petitions because Mr. Newsoms health orders had made it harder to gather signatures. That extension allowed Mr. Heatlies group to gather the nearly 1.5 million signatures required to bring the proposed recall to a vote an effort that was helped along when a maskless Mr. Newsom was seen dining at an exclusive restaurant with friends, after he had asked Californians to stay home to avoid spreading the virus.
Throughout the campaign, the recall supporters have blasted the governors mandates to get vaccinated, socially distance and wear face masks. Mr. Heatlie said his wife, who is vaccinated, had caught the virus from him.
The acknowledgment came as coronavirus cases, which are surging in other parts of the country, have plateaued in California, which now has some of the nations highest vaccination rates. This week, Mr. Newsom, ahead in the polls, released a new ad warning Californians that Republicans backing the recall will eliminate vaccine mandates, and endanger the states recovery.
Idaho public health leaders have activated crisis standards of care allowing health are rationing for the states northern hospitals because there are more coronavirus patients than the institutions can handle.
The Idaho department of health and welfare quietly enacted the move on Monday and publicly announced it in a statement on Tuesday morning warning residents that they may not get the care they would normally expect if they need to be hospitalized.
The move came as the states confirmed coronavirus cases rocketed in recent weeks. Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the US.
Governor Brad Little, a Republican, called the move to limit care an unprecedented and unwanted point in the history of our state and urged residents to get vaccinated against coronavirus.
The state health agency cited a severe shortage of staffing and available beds in the northern area of the state caused by a massive increase in patients with Covid-19 who require hospitalization.
The designation includes 10 hospitals and healthcare systems in the Idaho panhandle and in north-central Idaho. The agency said its goal is to extend care to as many patients as possible and to save as many lives as possible.
Crisis standards of care is a last resort. It means we have exhausted our resources to the point that our healthcare systems are unable to provide the treatment and care we expect, the Idaho department of health and welfare director, Dave Jeppesen, said in a statement.
He added: This is a decision I was fervently hoping to avoid. The best tools we have to turn this around is for more people to get vaccinated and to wear masks indoors and in outdoor crowded public places. Please choose to get vaccinated as soon as possible it is your very best protection against being hospitalized from Covid-19.
The move allows hospitals to allot scarce resources like intensive care unit rooms to patients most likely to survive and make other dramatic changes to the way they treat patients. Other patients will still receive care, but they may be placed in hospital classrooms or conference rooms rather than traditional hospital rooms or go without some life-saving medical equipment.
At Kootenai Health the largest hospital in northern Idaho some patients are waiting for long periods for beds to open up in the full intensive care unit, said Robert Scoggins, the chief of staff. Inside the ICU, one critical care nurse might be supervising up to six patients with the help of two other non-critical care nurses. Thats a big departure from the usual one ICU nurse for one ICU patient ratio, he said.
On Monday, the Coeur dAlene hospital started moving some coronavirus patients into its nearby conference center. A large classroom in the center was converted into a Covid-19 ward, with temporary dividers separating the beds. Some emergency room patients are being treated in a converted portion of the emergency room lobby, and the hospitals entire third floor has also been designated for coronavirus patients.
Urgent and elective surgeries are on hold, Scoggins said, and Kootenai Health is struggling to accept any of the high-level trauma patients that would normally be transferred from the smaller hospitals in the region.
Other states are preparing to take similar measures if needed. Hawaiis governor, David Ige, quietly signed an order last week releasing hospitals and healthcare workers from liability if they have to ration healthcare.
The unfolding crush of patients to Idaho hospitals has been anticipated with dread by the states heathcare providers. Medical experts have said that Idaho, which has a population of around 1.8 millions, could have as many as 30,000 new coronavirus cases a week by mid-September if the current rate of infections lasts.
The designation will remain in effect until there are enough resources including staffing, hospital beds and equipment or a drop in the number of patients to provide normal levels of treatment to all.
More than 500 people were hospitalized statewide with Covid-19 on 1 September and more than a third of them were in intensive care unit beds.
Idahos hospitals have struggled to fill empty nursing, housekeeping and other healthcare positions, in part because some staffers have left because they are burned out by the strain of the pandemic and because others have been quarantined because they were exposed to Covid-19.
Late last month, Little called in 220 medical workers available through federal programs and mobilized 150 Idaho national guard soldiers to help hospitals cope with the surge.
When the pandemic first came to Idaho at the start of 2020, Little ordered a partial shutdown of the state ordering some businesses to temporarily close or shift to takeout-style services, banning some large gatherings and asking residents to stay home as much as possible.
The move was aimed at ensuring that hospitals wouldnt become overwhelmed by patients. Idaho was on the verge of enacting crisis standards of care during a major coronavirus surge last winter, but narrowly avoided doing so making this the first time the state has taken the drastic measure.
Little reopened the state in stages over a period of several months and has not reimposed restrictions limiting gatherings. Businesses are mostly operating as normal.
The states crisis guidelines are complex, and give hospitals a legal and ethical template to use while rationing care.
Associated Press contributed to this report
COLUMBUS, Ohio - U.S. Coronavirus deaths have surpassed 650,000 nationally and in Ohio, 21,020 state residents have died with the virus, with rates increasing likely due to the highly contagious delta variant.
On Tuesday, the federal government reported 73 additional Ohio residents had died with COVID-19, which pushed the state past 21,000.
Yet on Tuesday, June 8, there were just 41 new COVID-19 deaths in Ohio. On July 7, there 22 new deaths. On Aug. 10, there were 24 new deaths.
The delta variant became predominant by late July, and then the higher deaths began to follow. On Aug. 27, 70 new deaths were reported.
From Aug. 1 through Tuesday, the federal government, which provides Ohio the death data, has identified 354 coronavirus deaths of Ohio residents.
This is a preliminary number. Ohio gives coroners and physicians up to six months to identify a cause of death. And sometimes the federal government takes time identifying causes of death too, meaning more deaths from Aug. 1 through Tuesday will likely be identified.
The following Ohio counties have had the highest number of deaths from Aug. 1, based on county of residence.
1. Montgomery: 32 deaths
2. Butler: 23 deaths
3. Hamilton: 23 deaths
4. Cuyahoga: 19
5. Franklin: 16
6. Stark: 12
7. Scioto: 11
8. Richland: 10
9. Lucas: 10
10. Greene: 9
11. Warren: 9
Many of these counties have among the states highest number of residents.
Some of Ohios smaller-population counties rank high when looking at deaths per 100,000 residents. Some of these counties have the lowest vaccination rates in the state.
1. Ashland: 15.3 deaths per capita
2. Scioto: 14.9 deaths per capita
3. Adams: 14.6 deaths per capita
4. Jackson: 12.3 deaths per capita
5. Fulton: 11.7 deaths per capita
Read more:
From full ICUs to long wait times in the ER, coronavirus in children is surging in Ohio
See the 10 Ohio counties with the highest vaccination rates
Ohio Supreme Court to decide whether Cleveland must refund $4.1 million in traffic camera tickets
Ohio heads into holiday weekend with 6,179 new coronavirus cases, 81 more deaths. See hospitalizations by region.
35 Cuyahoga County schools, districts will have blended learning if needed for coronavirus exposure
The UKs vaccines watchdog is expected to decide on Thursday about a Covid booster vaccine programme, with ministers hopeful that approval for vaccinations for 12- to 15-year-olds could follow imminently.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) is scheduled to meet on Thursday to examine interim results from the Cov-Boost study, which looks at the impact of one of seven different vaccines as a third dose, on top of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines.
The research, run by Southampton University, is seen as the main element in the JCVIs deliberations, with the government prepared to begin an immediate programme of widespread booster jabs if this is approved.
Some scientists say there is limited evidence for the efficacy of such jabs beyond people with clinical vulnerabilities, despite countries such as Israel pressing ahead with population-wide boosters.
It is understood that JCVI members will not be shown any material for the meeting before late on Wednesday, in an attempt to prevent leaks.
A week ago, the JCVI approved the use of a third vaccination for half a million people with severely weakened immune systems, although this was presented as separate to a formal booster programme.
Ministers are also awaiting news on 12- to 15-year-olds, after the JCVI said on Friday that the evidence of the clinical benefits of vaccinating this age group was not strong enough to recommend it.
The committee instead suggested ministers ask the four chief medical officers of the UK nations to examine wider factors such as the potential impact of disruption to schools.
Javid said on Wednesday he expected a decision on children to come from the UKs four chief medical officers within days.
He told Sky News: I want to give them the breathing space, its their independent view and thats exactly what it should be. But I would expect to hear from them in the next few days.
He said consent would be sought from parents of 12- to 15-year-olds as it has been for decades, but if children and their parents cannot agree, then the childs view would take precedence as long as they are competent enough to decide.
He said: If there is a difference of opinion between the child and the parent then we have specialists that work in this area, the schools vaccination service. They would usually literally sit down with the parent and the child, and try to reach some kind of consensus.
If ultimately that doesnt work, as along as we believe that the child is competent enough to make this decision then the child will prevail.
Javid also said he was very confident that the UK would have a booster programme so that older adults could receive a third jab.
He told Sky News: In terms of who actually gets it and when, were waiting for final advice which could come across, certainly, in the next few days from the JCVI.
He said the advice was expected to include information on whether people should get different vaccines from the ones they have already had, adding: Im confident that we can start the booster programme this month.
Scientists on the governments Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) subgroup on modelling said decisions on whether to go ahead with booster vaccines and vaccines for 12- to 15-year-olds were unlikely to make a big difference to the trajectory of cases and hospitalisations over the autumn.
Behavioural changes, such as more mixing indoors and the severity of this years flu season are expected to have a bigger impact on cases and the overall burden on the NHS, according to experts, who also said they did not expect to see a steep rise in severe Covid cases over the coming weeks.
Chris Jewell, an epidemiologist at Lancaster University, said: Based on the current situation, most people are in agreement that were not likely to see a massive rise in hospitalisations over the autumn. Things seem to be quite stable.
Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at the University of East Anglia, said that while he did not expect a surge in Covid cases, flu remained a major concern. Were due a bad flu year because we had very little flu last year and less the year before. If you have Covid and you catch flu at the same time youre twice as likely to die.
A look at some of the top headlines trending online today around the world including the latest news about the Talibans takeover in Afghanistan, the upcoming Sept. 11 anniversary, coronavirus updates and much more.
Taliban form all-male Afghan government of old guard members (AP)
Talibans interior minister is on FBIs most-wanted list, believed to be holding American hostage (Fox News)
Blinken: Taliban not blocking departure for U.S. passport, visa holders (Politico)
20 years after 9/11 attacks, just half call US more secure: POLL (ABC News)
Two 9/11 victims identified nearly 20 years after the attacks (CBS)
Democrats hit the gas on Bidens multitrillion-dollar safety net bill (NBC News)
Biden to lay out new strategy against delta variant of COVID-19 (ABC)
How the pandemic turned humble shipping containers into the hottest items on the planet (CNN)
Surge in COVID cases forces Idaho hospitals to ration health care (AP)
New Studies Find Evidence Of Superhuman Immunity To COVID-19 In Some Individuals (NPR)
WHO criticizes wealthy nations for hoarding Covid treatments and vaccines, saying its prolonging pandemic (CNBC)
Britney Spears father formally files to end conservatorship (BBC)
California fire threat high despite progress near Tahoe (AP)
A large earthquake near Acapulco shakes Mexicos capital (NY Times)
Grimace is a what? McDonalds managers interview leaves the internet even more confused (USA Today)
Kylie Jenner Confirms Her Pregnancy With A Sweet Instagram Video (ELLE)
The Northern Light Mercy Hospital in Portland will reopen a drive-up coronavirus testing facility at the Fore River Parkway campus on Friday.
The move comes as the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported 734 new cases of COVID-19 since Saturday, and the demand for testing continues to increase.
The testing site, which will be a self-swab site, will start taking appointments on Thursday, according to Dave Guthro, the hospitals communications director. The drive-up facility will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
There are testing sites provided by Northern Light Mercy Hospital that are available in Gorham, Westbrook and Windham, which are open daily.
Over the last two weeks, the spread of the highly contagious delta variant has led to increased hospitalizations, and Maine reported the highest coronavirus case rates in New England ahead of Labor Day.
More articles from the BDN
Leela Stockley is an alumna of the University of Maine. She was raised in northern Maine, and loves her cat Wesley and staying active in the Maine outdoors.More by Leela Stockley
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More and more unvaccinated people are becoming infected with the Delta Variant after this holiday weekend.
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With coronavirus hospitalizations in Texas hovering just below the pandemics winter peak, Texans are again grappling with how to deal with the virus in their day-to-day lives.
Last week, the Texas Education Agency announced that at least 45 small school districts shut down in-person classes due to high COVID-19 numbers. On top of that, major metropolitan hospitals are halting elective surgeries as they did during prior surges when hospitals filled up with COVID patients.
Although vaccines have slightly changed the calculus on safety protocols, many of the same factors that drove the winter surge are also driving the current wave of cases.
The Texas Tribune spoke with Dr. James Cutrell, an associate professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center who specializes in COVID-19 treatment, to answer questions about masks, vaccinations and breakthrough cases. Cutrell completed a fellowship in infectious diseases in 2013 at UT Southwestern and now is the director of the adult fellowship program in infectious diseases.
If you get vaccinated, do you still have to wear a mask?
Although the COVID-19 vaccines continue to provide very good protection, particularly against severe disease, hospitalization or death, there remains a risk of milder infection in those who are fully vaccinated.
Moreover, if infected, those who are fully vaccinated are able to transmit that infection to others, although their overall risk of transmission is lower than those who are unvaccinated. In order to reduce both the personal risk of infection and risk of spreading it to others, masking can be one effective strategy to protect yourself and others.
Therefore, the current CDC recommendations are that fully vaccinated individuals should continue to wear a mask when in public indoor spaces if they live in an area of substantial or high COVID-19 transmission. The definition of an area of substantial or high COVID-19 transmission is more than 50 cases per 100,000 people or a test positivity rate greater than 8%. This would currently include many areas of the country, including Texas.
How common are breakthrough cases for vaccinated people? Is the state tracking that?
Although early data from the end of April 2021 reported that breakthrough cases were very uncommon (about 0.01% among the first 100 million Americans vaccinated), breakthrough cases have become more common as community cases and transmission with the delta variant have risen across the country.
Precise estimates of the frequency of breakthrough cases are not known because since May 2021 the CDC has primarily been tracking breakthrough cases only in those who are hospitalized or die. There are some states that have continued to track the rates of breakthrough cases, but Texas is only tracking hospitalized or fatal cases due to COVID-19 breakthrough infections.
The CDC is conducting focused studies in 10 states through the Emerging Infections Program to determine better estimates of the overall rate of breakthrough cases during the current delta variant surge, including milder disease and infection.
What are the timelines around expanding eligibility for the vaccine? When can children under 12 get it?
Current clinical trials are ongoing, evaluating the safety and efficacy of the mRNA vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) for children under 12.
We expect that the data in the group of children ages 5-11 will be submitted to the FDA at some point in the early to mid-fall for review. There is less certainty around how long the FDA review process will take.
The CDC is recommending that pregnant women get vaccinated. Is there any research on how the vaccine affects pregnancy?
The CDC recently strengthened their recommendation of the COVID-19 vaccines for those who are pregnant, breastfeeding or considering pregnancy. This is based on increasing data showing that the vaccines are safe in pregnancy, with no signals of increased risk of miscarriage, preterm birth or other adverse pregnancy outcomes.
Additionally, the vaccine has proven effective at reducing the risk of COVID-19 infection in pregnancy.
Finally, there is a growing body of evidence showing that pregnant women who develop COVID-19 have a higher risk of severe disease leading to hospitalization or death and also a higher risk of pregnancy complications due to the infection. For all of these reasons, the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy strongly outweighs potential risks or side effects.
I live with someone who is immunocompromised. They already got their Pfizer booster. Should I get the booster early, too?
Currently the additional third doses (boosters) are only being administered to those who are moderately to severely immunocompromised. Those who are close or household contacts of an immunocompromised individual are not yet recommended to receive a booster.
At this point, the most important things for those who are close contacts to an immunocompromised patient are to be sure they are fully vaccinated (with their first two vaccine doses) and to be sure that they are wearing masks and taking other precautions when in public settings to minimize their risk of developing COVID-19 and spreading it to their loved one.
Are the mRNA boosters developed specifically for the delta variant? I've seen reports that Moderna and Pfizer are working on vaccines that target the delta variant.
The current boosters being administered and considered are the original mRNA vaccine, which was targeted for the original SARS-CoV-2 virus. These vaccines still show good efficacy against the delta variant, particularly in preventing more severe disease.
Clinical trials of updated mRNA vaccines, which are designed specifically to target the delta variant, began in August 2021, so in the future there will likely be boosters approved specifically for that variant.
When will the Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines get FDA approval?
Moderna completed its submission of data for full FDA approval in late August 2021. The FDA is reviewing under priority review so we expect that this fall it will be approved (for reference, it took 97 days from full submission of the Pfizer vaccine data to full approval). The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to have its data submitted for full approval by the end of 2021.
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WASHINGTON (AP) The summer that was supposed to mark Americas independence from COVID-19 is instead drawing to a close with the U.S. more firmly under the tyranny of the virus, with deaths per day back up to where they were in March.
The delta variant is filling hospitals, sickening alarming numbers of children and driving coronavirus deaths in some places to the highest levels of the entire pandemic. School systems that reopened their classrooms are abruptly switching back to remote learning because of outbreaks. Legal disputes, threats and violence have erupted over mask and vaccine requirements.
The U.S. death toll stands at more than 650,000, with one major forecast model projecting it will top 750,000 by Dec. 1.
It felt like we had this forward, positive momentum, lamented Katie Button, executive chef and CEO at two restaurants in Asheville, North Carolina. The delta variant wiped that timeline completely away.
It wasnt supposed to be this way. More than six months into the U.S. vaccination drive, President Joe Biden held a White House party on July Fourth to celebrate the countrys freedom from the virus, and other political leaders had high hopes for a close-to-normal summer.
Then the bottom fell out.
The summer wave was fueled by the extra-contagious delta variant combined with stark resistance to vaccinations that formed along political and geographic lines, said Dr. Sten Vermund, of the Yale School of Public Health.
The virus was more efficient in spreading among the unvaccinated so that you blunted the expected benefit of vaccines, Vermund said.
The crisis escalated rapidly from June to August. About 400,000 COVID-19 infections were recorded for all of June. It took all of three days last week to reach the same number.
The U.S. recorded 26,800 deaths and more than 4.2 million infections in August. The number of monthly positive cases was the fourth-highest total since the start of the pandemic.
The 2021 delta-driven onslaught is killing younger Americans at a much higher rate than previous waves of the pandemic in the Northeast last spring, the Sun Belt in the summer of 2020 and the deadly winter surge around the holidays.
During the peaks of those waves, Americans over 75 suffered the highest proportion of death. Now, the most vulnerable age group for death is 50 to 64.
Overall, the outbreak is still well below the all-time peaks reached over the winter, when deaths topped out at 3,400 a day and new cases at a quarter-million per day.
The U.S. is now averaging over 150,000 new cases per day, levels not seen since January. Deaths are close to 1,500 per day, up more than a third since late August.
Even before the delta variant became dominant, experts say there were indications that larger gatherings and relaxed social distancing measures were fueling new cases.
We had been cooped up for over a year and everyone wanted to get out, said Dr. David Dowdy, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In the face of that kind of strong change in behavior, even getting almost two-thirds of our adult population vaccinated wasnt enough.
The COVID-19 vaccines remain highly effective against hospitalization and death, but many tens of millions of eligible Americans remain unvaccinated. Nearly 40% of Americans 12 and older are not fully protected.
Yales Vermund sees reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the next few months. Cases in most states appear to be plateauing and are likely to decline in the fall, buying health authorities more time to vaccinate adults and teenagers before flu season.
If we can continue making progress between now and Thanksgiving, we may be able to substantially blunt the coronavirus surge in flu season, Vermund said.
While the economy has been rebounding strongly over the past several months, hiring slowed sharply in August in a sign that the variant is discouraging Americans from flying, shopping or eating out.
And on Monday, unemployment benefits including an extra $300 a week from the federal government ran out for millions of Americans.
Button, the North Carolina chef, was feeling great heading into the summer. Her team was mostly vaccinated in May and restrictions were loosening. But the crisis soon changed direction.
Button supports the mask mandate that was recently reinstated in her county but said her employees are exhausted by having to enforce it. And since she has no outdoor seating, some diners have been less comfortable coming in.
Its hard to take a step forward and then take three steps back, she said.
___
Associated Press data journalist Nicky Forster contributed to this report from New York. Durbin reported from Detroit.
At Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, nearly half the patients have tested positive for COVID-19. Photographed August 2021. (Loren Holmes / ADN)
Alaskas COVID-19 hospitalizations hit a dramatic new high this week as health care facilities struggle with a surge of mostly unvaccinated patients who providers say are stretching the system to its limits.
The state reported 186 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Monday as well as two deaths in people with the virus, according to the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services dashboard. The deaths were in a man in his 50s from the Fairbanks North Star Borough and a woman in her 60s from the Kusilvak Census Area in Western Alaska.
Statewide, COVID-positive patients accounted for 1 in 5 of all hospitalized people as of Monday. The states hospitals added about 20 new COVID-positive patients over the Labor Day weekend, putting more pressure on a hospital system providers say is already becoming overwhelmed.
Hospitalizations recently hit new records, superseding 151 people hospitalized at one time over the winter. There were at least 165 patients with COVID-19 in hospitals around the state by weeks end.
The hospital statistics dont include long-term COVID-19 patients who no longer test positive but continue to need care, hospital officials said this week. So they underestimate the true impact of the virus on capacity.
Cars wait in line at Alaska Airlines Center COVID-19 testing site in Anchorage on Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2021. (Emily Mesner / ADN)
Providers say COVID-19 patients now are younger and sicker than before, requiring time-intensive care, and needing hospitalization longer than traditional patients.
Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, in the states least vaccinated urban region, reported 39 COVID-19 patients as of Monday nearly half of the hospitals total patient count.
The hospital has stopped accepting transfers from other facilities and is postponing non-emergency procedures on a daily, case-by-case basis, according to Dr. Thomas Quimby, the hospitals emergency department director. That can mean delaying cardiac catheterization or the removal of cancerous tumors.
The hospitals COVID-positive patients stay for an average of three weeks longer than other patients.
Cases show no sign of abating in Mat-Su, which tends to lag several weeks behind Anchorage, Quimby said. Maybe Anchorage will level off soon and his hospital can send patients there.
If that doesnt happen, theres no place to shift patients, he said. Thats very concerning.
The states chief medical officer, Dr. Anne Zink, worked an emergency shift at the Mat-Su hospital on Saturday night and shared a photo on social media of a patient dashboard with 10 cases, eight of them showing symptoms of the virus.
So much COVID, Zink tweeted.
[Idaho hospitals, overloaded with COVID patients, begin rationing care]
The highly contagious delta variant is driving the surge in hospitalizations and new cases. The state reported 2,059 resident cases over a four-day period from Friday to Monday, including 850 reported for Friday, the second-highest one-day resident tally since the pandemic began in March 2020.
This situation continues to get worse and worse, said Jared Kosin, president and CEO of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association. It is so hard to watch.
The new levels come as Anchorage mayor Dave Bronson and Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy continue to make it clear they plan no new mitigation measures like mask orders and shy away from specific vaccine messaging. And unlike during last winters peak, hospitals are already full with other patients being treated by health care workers reeling from pandemic burnout or leaving the profession for good, leading to shortages.
As of Tuesday, 61.3% of eligible Alaskans had received at least one dose of vaccine and 55.7% were fully vaccinated, according to state data. Alaska was ranked 33rd out of 50 states for per capita vaccination rates.
The states test positivity rate, the percent positive tests out of the total performed, was 8.07% over a seven-day period as of Monday. Health experts say anything over 5% means broader testing is needed.
Dunleavy last week rejected calls to enact a public health disaster declaration. The governor amended the upcoming special session, adding bills expanding telehealth offerings and streamlining background checks and nurse licensing. Hearings began Tuesday.
More than 90% of the patients he sees at Mat-Su Regional are unvaccinated, Quimby said.
He saw a patient on Sunday who was in his 50s without significant medical problems. His wife was vaccinated but he wasnt. Hed already been sick for 10 days before coming to the ER and was admitted with low oxygen levels.
The patient was scared.
He just was miserable and remorseful. Hes already been sick for 10 days, now hes going to be in the hospital, Quimby said. He asked me, Can I get the vaccination now? I wish I had gotten it.
