Southern US States Set Records for COVID Hospitalizations
By
VOA News | August 2, 2021
A nurse from Maryland chats with a nurse from Chattanooga, Tenn., as nearly three dozen health care workers from around the country arrive to help supplement the staff at Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center in Baton Rouge, Aug. 2, 2021.
Hospitalizations from COVID-19 are surging in the Southern United States with some states seeing record numbers of patients as the country faces a wave of coronavirus infections fueled by the delta variant.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards said Monday that looking ahead to Tuesday's reported hospitalization numbers, there are "more hospitalizations than at any other point in the pandemic."
Edwards did not give the exact number of hospitalized patients, but said it was more than the official count of 1,984 that health officials announced Monday at noon.
The news follows Florida's announcement Sunday that more than 10,000 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the state, surpassing Florida's record.
Arkansas reported Monday its biggest one-day spike in coronavirus hospitalizations since the pandemic began, bringing the state's total to 1,220. Arkansas is nearing its high of 1,371 coronavirus patients set in January.
White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Friday that coronavirus cases are surging in areas with low vaccination rates.
He told reporters on a conference call that one in three cases nationwide occurred in Florida and Texas in the past week. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center, new confirmed cases hit nearly 560,000.
As of Monday night, the U.S. has confirmed 35.1 million cases of COVID-19 since the pandemic began and more than 613,000 deaths.
https://www.voanews.com/covid-19-pandemic/southern-us-states-set-records-covid-hospitalizations?amp