Idaho allows health facilities to ration supplies due to the rise in COVID-19 cases, which leave more people in need of care than the facilities can handle.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare tacitly approved the move on Monday and publicly announced it in a statement on Tuesday – warning residents that they may not receive the care they would normally expect when hospitalized.
The move came as the state’s confirmed coronavirus cases have soared in recent weeks. Idaho has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the US with 744,460 of its 1.78 million residents – or about 42% of its total population – fully vaccinated.
Rationing of supplies is the last resort for hospitals and other health care facilities, but a number of states have been forced to take similar measures throughout the pandemic or to weigh in on rationing of supplies in recent weeks as the number of COVID-19 infections increases overwhelmed the hospitals.
The move allows hospitals to allocate scarce resources, such as intensive care rooms, to patients who are most likely to survive, and to make other dramatic changes in the way they treat patients. While others continue to receive care, patients can be accommodated in hospital classrooms or conference rooms instead of traditional hospital rooms, or without life-saving medical devices.
Also on the news:
► After a slow start, the European Union’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign has now overtaken the US Around 60% of the population are fully vaccinated, compared to 53% in the US
►Kentucky reported three times the number of COVID-19 deaths this year than all of last year, data from Johns Hopkins University shows. The state reported 2,623 deaths in 2020. As of Tuesday, the state has reported 7,905 deaths in 2021.
►COVID-19 killed an average of one Floridian every four minutes last week, but information on how many people die each day in local communities is difficult to find. The state provided incomplete or inconsistent data.
📈 Today’s numbers: The US has recorded more than 40 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 650,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Global Total: Nearly 222 million cases and 4.5 million deaths. More than 176 million Americans – 53% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
📘 What we read: Officials in India are working to contain a virus outbreak that has claimed the life of a 12-year-old boy and is more deadly than COVID-19 – the Nipah virus. Here’s more about the deadly virusthat could have the same origin.
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CDC says two major tourist spots are at “high risk” of COVID-19 transmission
The traditional summer travel season ended on Labor Day weekend, and maybe that’s a good thing, considering the number of safe places to visit is shrinking. The CDC on Tuesday added Jamaica and Sri Lanka to its list of places people should not travel due to high rates of COVID-19 transmission.
It is recommended to avoid traveling to both places, which are on different sides of the world but are popular tourist destinations. The CDC says that even those who are vaccinated are “at risk of getting and spreading COVID-19 variants” because of transmission rates.
The CDC had already included Puerto Rico and the Bahamas on the same list for the past two weeks. France, Switzerland, Israel, Aruba, Thailand, Greece and Ireland were also not recommended travel destinations in August, according to the CDC.
Spain, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom and Portugal have also received Level 4 ratings from the CDC, which means virus transmission rates of more than 500 per 100,000 people in the past four weeks.
Planning a trip to Maui? You may need to be vaccinated.
Getting restaurant reservations and bookings for popular tourist activities has been a challenge for visitors to Maui this summer, and it’s getting tougher. Hawaii is grappling with a COVID spike that it has largely escaped from in recent weeks.
As of September 15, those wishing to dine indoors in restaurants and bars will be required to provide proof of full vaccination records. Those who are not vaccinated may only be allowed to dine outdoors or order to take away. Children under the age of 12 are exempt.
Bars and restaurants will also have to close at 10 p.m. next week.
There are also capacity reductions in many tourist activities. The group size for tours, snorkeling trips, fishing expeditions, sunset sailing and other excursions, as well as ground transportation providers, is limited from the current capacity limit of 75% to 50% in order to promote social distancing.
– Dawn Gilbertson, USA TODAY
Contribution: The Associated Press
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