Covid-19 surge driven by Delta variant overwhelms US hospitals: Report

Hospitals across the US are "back in crisis mode" due to a fourth surge of the Covid-19 pandemic driven by the Delta variant, according to a media report.

Increasing Covid-19 cases, common viruses spreading again as people get together, and people who get injured when driving and playing sports have all added up to hospital pressure, the report said, narrating the story of an Oregon medical center "filled with unvaccinated patients" that had to postpone cancer patients' surgeries, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Double-digit growth in Covid-19 hospitalisations was recorded in 46 of the 50 US states in the week ending Tuesday, and eight states, including California and New York, added more than 400 new patients, the article said.

The US logged 911,529 new cases in the week ending Sunday, and had not seen such a high weekly increase since the week ending January 31 with more than 1 million new infections, the report said.

More than 59 per cent of the US population has received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccines, with 50.9 per cent fully vaccinated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Doctors say the nationwide outbreak overwhelming hospitals could have been avoided had more people been immunized," the report said.

--IANS

int/rs