US: Delta variant spreads violently, Oregon state urgently mobilizes national guard to support

According to RT, Ms. Brown announced on August 13: "To support hospitals that are overwhelmed with patients during the outbreak of the Delta variant, I will deploy 500 Oregon National Guard members in the first phase to hospitals across the state. Up to 1,500 National Guard members will support hospital staff as needed."

The first 500 Guardsmen will be deployed on August 20 and will support the St. Charles, Mercy, Asante and Providence hospital systems. The remaining 500 will be deployed in the coming weeks. In addition to assisting with administering Covid-19 tests, the Guardsmen will handle supplies and operate equipment to support hospital logistics and operations.

Even though Oregon has more than 2.5 million residents (more than half the population) who have received a COVID-19 vaccine, Governor Brown said the harsh reality is that the Delta variant has changed everything. She insisted that action must be taken against the Delta variant.

The State of Oregon will also ask the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for assistance and funding.

The decision to deploy the Guard comes as Oregon has seen a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations. As of August 13, 743 people with Covid-19 were hospitalized. Of those, 185 were in intensive care and 89 were on ventilators. There are only 71 available intensive care beds in the state.

A 2018 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that Oregon had the lowest number of intensive care unit beds per capita in the US, at just 1.6 beds per 1,000 people. Under normal circumstances, Oregon doesn’t have a surplus of intensive care unit beds, but during the pandemic, Covid-19 patients quickly filled them.

On August 11, Brown reimposed a statewide mask requirement in enclosed spaces, including for fully vaccinated people.

Oregon is not the only state in the US to deploy the National Guard to help fight the pandemic. Governors in many states have made similar moves since the pandemic began. Earlier this month, the Virginia National Guard ended its operations after a 460-day deployment to support vaccinations, testing, and hospital logistics. In 2021, California and New York also deployed the National Guard.

Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations in the US as a whole is rising at a six-month high as the Delta variant spreads rapidly in areas with low vaccination rates. Across the US, Covid-19 cases have averaged 100,000 cases for several consecutive days, up 35% in the past week, according to a Reuters tally of public health data. Louisiana, Florida and Arkansas have reported the most new cases. Meanwhile, hospitalizations have increased 40% and Covid-19 deaths have increased 18%, with Arkansas having the highest number of deaths.

Florida has seen its highest number of hospitalizations for eight consecutive days, according to the analysis. In the state, most students are scheduled to return to school as some districts debate whether to require students to wear masks in class.

Across the United States, the number of children hospitalized with Covid-19 is increasing, a trend that health experts say is due to the Delta variant being more contagious in children than the Alpha variant.