Arkansas lacks intensive care beds for COVID patients

[ad_1]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) Arkansas ran out of intensive care unit beds for COVID-19 patients on Tuesday for the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said, as cases spike continued to overwhelm state hospitals.

The state’s intensive care capacity for COVID patients barely eased hours after Hutchinsons’ announcement, with just one hospital in Southeast Arkansas showing availability, according to the system. ‘State for the coordination of patients with coronavirus. Patients with the virus make up about half of states’ intensive care beds. The number of patients infected with the virus in intensive care units and on ventilators reached a new high in the state on Monday.

Everyone should know the pressure this places on our hospitals and the need to get vaccinated and how critical our bed space is, Hutchinson told reporters at a press conference.

Hutchinson said hospitals across the state were working to open more intensive care beds for patients infected with the virus. Arkansas Department of Health chief of staff Renee Mallory said a hospital was planning to open additional beds later Tuesday and possibly later in the week. The Department of Health said on Tuesday that the state’s total number of available intensive care beds had dropped from four to 18.

For us, it’s much more difficult to coordinate these transfer requests, said Jeff Tabor, program director for Arkansas COVIDComm, the state’s system for matching COVID-19 patients with hospitals. Patients during the summer flare are so much sicker than during the winter flare.

Arkansas ranks fifth in the country for new cases per capita, according to figures compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. Arkansas has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, with 40% of the state’s population fully vaccinated.

The state reported more than 2,200 new cases of the virus and 45 new deaths from COVID-19 on Tuesday. The state reported that 10,950 additional doses of the vaccine had been administered. The number of COVID-19 patients statewide has fallen from 44 to 1,367.

Dr Jose Romero, state health secretary, said the increase in the number of cases continues to keep the state’s intensive care capacity at a tight level.

The more beds we open, the more they will be filled, Romero told reporters.

Baptist Health planned to open 18 additional intensive care beds, including 15 for COVID-19 patients, at its hospitals in Fort Smith and North Little Rock. Greg Crain, president of the Baptist metro area, said he hoped to open the beds in Fort Smith on Friday and in North Little Rock on August 31.

In a report released earlier Tuesday, public health researchers predict the death toll in states from COVID-19 will exceed 7,000 by August 30. Arkansas reported on Tuesday that 6,749 people have died from the virus since the start of the pandemic.

If that prediction holds true, COVID-19 will have killed more Arkansans than all the wars of the 20th and 21st centuries, according to the University of Arkansas prediction for Medical Sciences Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health.

The researchers also predicted that the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 would increase by 20% until August 30 and by 34% until September 14.

Hospitalizations and patients requiring intensive cases have reached record numbers and put our hospital system in a precarious position, according to the report. The cover of the report featured a photo of a wildfire, a reference to how UAMS researchers described the increasing number of cases and hospitalizations in the states.

The state’s health department also issued an advisory on Tuesday warning people not to use livestock medicine to try to treat COVID-19. The advisory follows a slight increase in calls to the Arkansas Poison Control Center about people taking ivermectin intended for use in animals or livestock.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has approved ivermectin in humans and animals for certain parasitic worms and for head lice and skin conditions. It has not approved its use in the treatment or prevention of COVID-19 in humans. Some Republican lawmakers in Arkansas have touted the drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

The advisory warns that the veterinary formulation of the drug can be highly toxic in humans. Some symptoms associated with ivermectin toxicity are rash, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, neurological disturbances, and potentially severe hepatitis requiring hospitalization.

The Mississippis Department of Health issued a similar warning this week regarding the use of ivermectins.

Also on Tuesday, a group of parents filed a lawsuit challenging a decision by Arkansas school districts to require masks following a court ruling blocking the state’s mandate ban on masks.

The lawsuit against the Cabot School District argues that the local school board did not have the authority to impose the requirement. A similar lawsuit was filed against a northwest Arkansas school district last week.

More than 100 public school districts and charter schools have approved mask requirements after a judge issued a preliminary injunction against state law banning mask warrants by government entities. The requirements cover more than half of students in state public schools.

[ad_2]