Idaho has been forced to order triage of patients in the northern part of the state due to overcrowding of medical facilities by COVID-19 patients. Idaho, a red state, has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the US. (39.5%). The Repugnant governor said the rationing was unwanted but necessary. Despite the crisis, he has not ordered another partial quaranteen which he ordered in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic. The state’s health department said they were suffering from “a severe shortage of staffing and available beds in the northern area of the state caused by a massive increase in patients with Covid-19 who require hospitalization”.
Ten hospitals accross the state's northern section will begin prioritizing patients seeeking hospitalization. The change in care standards means that hospital administrators can now give an ICU bed to a patient with the best chance of survival, similar to the practices of a field hospital in wartime. Patients unlikely to survive will be given hospice care. If infection trends continue, Idaho could see an increase of
30,000 new cases a week.
