Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden reiterated the concerns of health experts in a debate Thursday evening, and predicted that the United States may head into a “dark winter” due to the Coronavirus pandemic. But hospitalization reports show that winter may indeed be here.
The average number of hospitalizations has increased in at least 38 states over the past week – a trend that cannot be explained by more widespread testing.
Of the 38 states that showed an increase from October 15 to October 22, New Mexico recorded the highest increase of 41 percent on a weekly basis, followed by Connecticut with 27 percent, according to data tracked by The Washington Post. Hawaii is the only state not reporting current hospital admissions.
Adjusted by population, South Dakota recorded the highest average of seven days in hospitalized coronavirus patients on Thursday.
14 states also reported new spikes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients over the past week: Kentucky, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Wyoming, Iowa, Utah, Montana, West Virginia, Missouri and Kansas.
Utah health officials on Thursday issued a worrying warning that the pandemic is pushing the state’s health system over an abyss.
“Our main hospitals have started rejecting new patients in their intensive care units and are now activating plans to increase the number of patients. The level of stress increases every day,” Utah’s coronavirus response team tweeted During a press conference. “If this trend continues, it won’t be long before we start seeing people in the hospital at the Expo Mountain America.”
“I don’t know what to do anymore,” said Angela Dunn, a government epidemiologist, at a news conference. “I’m really not trying to scare anyone, I’m just trying to tell you what’s going on.”
The increase has also strained the capacity of hospitals in other states, including Wisconsin, which opened a field hospital to deal with the outbreak. Governor Tony Evers (Democrat) described the current situation as an “urgent crisis”. Thursday.
