September 23, 2021
THE DESANTIS FLU:
Alaska Gov. Dunleavy activates statewide crisis standards of care to help COVID-overwhelmed hospitals (Zaz Hollander, 9/22/21, ADN)
Alaska is activating crisis standards of care for the entire state and bringing in contracted health workers as staff shortages and influx of COVID-19 patients make it difficult for hospitals to operate normally.Gov. Mike Dunleavy and top health officials announced the hospital support on Wednesday, the same day Alaska's new single-day cases hit another record as the highly infectious delta variant drives infections.A combination of short staffing and high numbers of COVID-19 patients is overwhelming medical facilities in Anchorage, Mat-Su and Fairbanks. Rural hospitals say they struggle to transfer patients to urban centers for higher care. At least one patient died recently when a bed in Anchorage wasn't available. [...]Alaska, once the most vaccinated state in the nation, has dropped into the bottom third.
Posted by Orrin Judd at September 23, 2021 12:00 AM