Health care workers and hospitals are feeling the heat due to the recent surge in hospitalizations

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HUMBOLDT COUNTY, Calif. (KIEM)- The delta variant has caused a rise in COVID-19 cases, deaths and hospitalizations and hospitals and health care workers in Humboldt County are feeling the impact.

Dr. Ian Hoffman during a board of supervisors meeting on Tuesday said that the ICU capacity has been at or near 100 percent for the past two weeks.

“Many chronically ill residents have been transferred out of the county due to the lack of bed space in our local ICUs,” said Hoffman.

Dr. Hoffman said that it’s not that there aren’t enough beds available, but that hospitals don’t have enough staff.

“This has also resulted in the cancellation of needed surgical procedures that were deemed not to be absolute emergencies but still very needed by members of the community,” said Hoffman.

During the meeting, Hoffman said the COVID-19 case counts are showing signs of slowing down and that reports are showing early signs of a plateau.

“For the first time in over a month, the case count per 100,000 is not continuing to rise with dramatic rates week by week,” said Hoffman.

Even though case counts may have plateaued, Hoffman says that we still need to continue to follow the safety guidelines until a real drop is seen in both cases and hospitalizations.

Health officials want to reiterate that getting the vaccine is still the best way to protect against COVID-19.