Despite recent increases in US vaccination rates and a slight decrease in reported cases in some of the hardest hit states, the recent COVID-19 surge has brought some hospitals back to where they were when the pandemic started – and for the crucial one Oxygen strapped.
Hospitals in Tulsa, Oklahoma; Augusta, Georgia; and Lexington, Kentucky, are having conversations about what to do if they run out of oxygen and ventilators, among other things.
In Tulsa, Dr. Jeffrey Goodloe, the chief medical officer of the ambulance service that serves Tulsa and Oklahoma City, told the Associated Press that a hospital ran out of oxygen within hours and had to call 911 for an emergency transfer of a patient on high-flow oxygen.
“If it can happen to a hospital, it can happen to any hospital,” said Goodloe.
Augusta University Medical Center ordered 12 additional ventilators to meet demand with the recent surge in hospital admissions for COVID.
And in Lexington, emergency doctors are preemptively discussing whether multiple people can be connected to the same ventilator, AP reported.
As hospitals have found, oxygen has been shown to be useful in treating COVID patients. A high flow oxygen tubing method uses up to three times as much oxygen as was used to treat patients at the start of the pandemic, Andy Brailo, chief customer officer for Buyer Premier, told AP.
Also on the news:
► The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have added two US territories to their list of “Very High” COVID-19 Risk Travel Destinations and are advising Americans against traveling to Puerto Rico and Guam.
► Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced Tuesday that all public and private schools will have mask requirements starting September 7, after he said most of the state’s 500 counties did not have mask requirements of their own.
► The recession triggered by the COVID pandemic has brought social security a year closer to bankruptcy, the government announced on Tuesday. Projections show that Social Security will not be able to pay full benefits in 2034, which is a year earlier than previous projections.
► Kiss frontman Paul Stanley tested positive on Thursday, forcing the band to postpone a number of shows to the following days. On Tuesday, the band announced that bassist Gene Simmons had also tested positive for COVID-19.
📈Today’s numbers: The U.S. has recorded more than 39 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 640,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Global Total: More than 217 million cases and 4.5 million deaths. More than 174 million Americans – 52.4% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘 What we read: International health authorities do not list it as a “questionable variant”. Still, scientists are keeping an eye on mutations in the original coronavirus that could become more dangerous. The newest variant that attracts attention is the C.1.2 variant. Read more .
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80% of Californians at least partially vaccinated
California has reached an encouraging milestone in the fight against the coronavirus: 80% of eligible residents have now received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that the vaccination rate in California has increased, with an average of 600,000 doses administered in the past two weeks.
“But again, 80% is not where we need to be. We still have to reach those on the fence, “Newsom said.
Newsom has urged all government officials, teachers and health care workers to either get vaccinated or have weekly tests, which is likely to lead to an increase in vaccines.
The U.S. gets an average of 900,000 vaccinations a day, up from 500,000 a day in mid-July, the White House said Tuesday. The pace of first shots is also accelerating: the United States administered more than 14 million first shots in August – almost 4 million more first shots than in July, he said.
According to the CDC, 72.2% of the eligible population 12 and older nationwide are at least partially vaccinated, and 61.4% of eligible Americans are fully vaccinated.
– Jeanine Santucci, USA TODAY
Tennessee has not reported COVID-19 hospital admissions
The coronavirus has hospitalized about 5,100 more Tennessee residents in the past 14 months than previously reported – an increase of more than 20% from previous totals – according to newly replenished data from the state health ministry.
Hospital admissions have been reported by anywhere from one to a dozen patients almost every day since the beginning of last summer, according to the new data. The majority of unreported hospital admissions occurred during the winter wave.
The revised Tennessee total hospital admissions, including populated data, is 29,694.
Sarah Tanksley, a health department spokeswoman, said the unreported hospital admissions have now been exposed because the agency added a new data source from the Tennessee Hospital Association to its COVID-19 tracking efforts.
-Board Kelman, The Nashville Tennessee
Contribution: The Associated Press