Coronavirus Surges in Alaska, Swamping the State’s Hospitals – The New York Times

Alaska, once a leader in vaccinating its citizens, is now in the throes of its worst coronavirus surge of the pandemic, as the Delta variant rips through the state, swamping hospitals with patients.

As of Tuesday, the state was averaging 117 new cases a day for every 100,000 people, more than any other in the nation, according to recent data trends collected by The New York Times. That figure has shot up by 42 percent in the last two weeks, and by more than twentyfold since early July.

On Wednesday, the state said it had activated crisis standards of care, giving hospitals legal protections for triage decisions that force them to give some patients substandard care. The state also announced an $87 million contract to bring in hundreds of temporary health care workers.

Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Republican, said that while hospitals were strained, he did not see a need to implement restrictions aimed at curbing transmission. Still, he encouraged people who had not yet received a vaccination to seriously consider it.

We have the tools available to us for individuals to be able to take care of themselves, Mr. Dunleavy said. While the state led the nation in vaccinations early in the year, it has been lagging in recent months, with under half of its population fully vaccinated, compared with 55 percent nationally, according to federal data.

Jared Kosin, the head of the Alaska State Hospital and Nursing Home Association, called the surge crippling in an interview on Tuesday. He added that hospitals were full, and health care workers were emotionally depleted. Patients are being kept waiting for care in their cars outside overwhelmed emergency rooms.

There is growing anxiety in outlying communities that depend on transferring seriously ill patients to hospitals in Anchorage, Mr. Kosin said. Transfers are getting harder to arrange and are often delayed, he said.

We are all wondering where this goes, and whether that transfer will be available, even tomorrow, Mr. Kosin said.

Critically ill people in rural areas, where many Alaska Natives reside, often have to be taken by plane to a hospital that can provide the treatment they need, said Dr. Philippe Amstislavski, an associate professor of public health at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

Unlike in the lower 48, you dont have that ability to move people quickly, because of the distances and remoteness, said Dr. Amstislavski, who was formerly the public health manager for the Interior Region of Alaska, focusing on rural and predominantly Alaska Native communities.

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Mr. Kosin said that if hospitalizations rise much further, hospitals and clinics around the state could be forced to apply crisis standards of care and more extreme triage decisions. That is the worst-case scenario we could be heading to, he said.

Alaska Natives, who have historically suffered from health disparities in the state, are disproportionately struggling during the latest virus wave, Dr. Amstislavski said.

Dr. Anne Zink, Alaskas chief medical officer, said several factors may be contributing to the surge, including summer tourists bringing in and spreading the virus.

Were hoping that as the snow falls and we have less people visiting, those numbers will settle down, Dr. Zink said in an interview Tuesday night.

On the other hand, she noted that cooling weather drives residents indoors, where the virus spreads more readily.

The states Canadian neighbors to the east, Yukon and British Columbia, have not suffered such severe outbreaks, Dr. Amstislavski said, possibly because of that countrys stricter travel restrictions and less strained health care system.

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Coronavirus Surges in Alaska, Swamping the State's Hospitals - The New York Times