By Ray King
A spokeswoman for Jefferson Regional Hospital said Wednesday that hospitalizations because of COVID are increasing.
Wendy Talbot talked to Deltaplex News and confirmed national reports that more people were being diagnosed with COVID and being hospitalized.
On Tuesday, Governor Asa Hutchinson told the media that 270 new cases of COVID-19 had been reported since Monday and said that may be an undercount because of the three-day Fourth of July holiday. Hospitalizations increased by 55 since Monday, the largest increase since January.
Talbot described it as a “strain on the system.”
The Governor said the state’s vaccination rate is lower than the national average, even though 1-million people have been vaccinated.
Asked how many patients were hospitalized at the height of the pandemic, Talbot said she has seen numbers as high as 27 or 28. She was also asked if the increase can be attributed to the Delta variant which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Infection, is the “dominant strain” in the country.
The Governor said the Delta Variant makes up more than half the COVID cases in the state and nationally and is 30 to 50 percent more transmissible than the earlier variant. Of those hospitalized, 98 to 99 percent were not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
