Alaska Allows Hospitals To Begin Rationing Care

The Associated Press reports:

Alaska on Saturday activated emergency crisis protocols that allow 20 medical facilities to ration care if needed as the state recorded the nation’s worst COVID-19 diagnosis rates in recent days, straining the state’s limited health care system.

The declaration covers three facilities that had already announced emergency protocols, including the state’s largest hospital, Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. The state’s declaration also includes the other two hospitals in Anchorage and facilities across the nation’s largest but sparsely populated state.

Since March 2020, there have been 110,850 total COVID-19 cases in Alaska, which has a population of about 731,000. More than 24,000 new cases were reported in September as the delta variant drove a spike in cases in Alaska, which has never had a statewide mask mandate.

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Alaska Allows Hospitals to Ration Care Amid COVID Spike https://t.co/Ysd4GaTKw5

— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) October 3, 2021