A spike in the COVID-19 Delta variant has caused a shortage of Intensive Care Unit beds in Mississippi where health officials warn of a rise in deaths in the coming weeks.
Mississippi Department of Health officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said that medical resources were under strain as the highly contagious variant of the disease spreads through the state.
“We’re going to have a rough few weeks,” Dobbs told a media briefing on Tuesday, “Delta is hitting us very strongly. We anticipate that we are going to continue to put additional pressure on the healthcare system,” the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported.
In the month between June 13 and July 11, around nine out of 10 hospitalizations and deaths in Mississippi had been among unvaccinated people, the publication reported, while state officials remain worried at the spike in transmissions.
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Dr. Alan Jones, associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, told ABC News on Wednesday there had been “Significant increase” in child patients, who displayed more symptoms than those diagnosed earlier in the pandemic.
He said that there were now 13 hospitals in the state which had no ICU beds available, while there was only around a tenth of ICU beds were available in other hospitals.
For more information on Covid-19 and the Delta Variant visit the Mississippi Department of Health website here.
More on Covid-19 in Mississippi:
MS Health Department Reports 2,326 Covid-19 Cases as Delta Variant Surges
