News

Arkansas has just 8 ICU beds available as state experiences largest increase in hospitalizations

by on

More in News:

Arkansas saw the single biggest one-day increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations, leaving only eight intensive care unit beds open in the entire state, authorities said Monday.

With 1,376 people hospitalized for the virus, Gov. Asa Hutchinson pleaded with constituents to get vaccinated. “Today’s report shows some very startling numbers,” Hutchinson said in a statement. “We saw the largest single-day increase in hospitalizations and have eclipsed our previous high of Covid hospitalizations. There are currently only eight ICU beds available in the state. Vaccinations reduce hospitalizations.”

Jeff Tabor, program director for Arkansas’s COVIDComm system, which matches Covid-19 patients with hospitals, theorized that the ICU crunch is due to both the virus’s recent spread and patients who put off other medical procedures during the pandemic.

“I fear that we’re at a moment moment where any (patient with) time-sensitive disease will be affected,” Tabor told NBC News on Tuesday. “(Patients who need treatment for) Covid, trauma, stroke, heart attack, sepsis, anyone critically ill with diabetes, so much more will be impacted by the lack of resources.”

Arkansas is behind the rest of the country in vaccinating its population. Just 42.9% of people in Arkansas, age 12 and up, are fully vaccinated, per state health authorities. Nationally, the average is 58.7%, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of Sunday, the state’s seven-day average of new cases was 2,351, up 24% from the previous two weeks and the highest tally since January.

ARTICLE: PAUL MURDOCH

MANAGING EDITOR: CARSON CHOATE
PHOTO CREDITS: CNN

The following two tabs change content below.

Paul Murdoch

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

Paul, 37, is from Scotland in the UK, but currently lives and works in Bangkok. Paul has worked in different industries such as telemarketing, retail, hospitality, farming, insurance, and teaching, where he works now. He teaches at an all-girls High School in Bangkok. “It’s a lot of work, but I love my job.” Paul has an active interest in politics. His reason for writing for FBA is to offer people the facts and allow them to make up their own minds. Whilst he believes opinion columns have their place, it is also important that people can have accurate news with no bias.

Leave a Reply