Delta triggers ICU crisis,US city issues

New infections in the U.S. have rebounded to more than 100,000 a day on average, returning to levels of the winter surge six months ago. According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg the US hit by the Delta variant of the SARS-CoV-2, the American city of Austin on Monday had only six beds in the Intensive Care Units (ICU) in its hospitals. Austin in Texas has a population of over 24 lakh.

"The situation is critical," Dr Desmar Walkes, Austin's medical director of the state's health authority. The health department in Austin also sent out a warning of a "catastrophe". The notifications were sent to the residents in the city via emails, text messages and phone calls."Our hospitals are severely stressed and there is little we can do to alleviate their burden with the surging cases," Dr Walkes said, The resurgence of Covid-19 in Texas has put some health systems in some of its cities in dire circumstances, as intensive care unit beds fill up.

Another city in Texas, San Antonio, is facing a nursing shortage caused by an increase of coronavirus patients. In San Antonio, Covid-19 hospitalisations on Saturday were up by 430 per cent since the start of July. "We have patients waiting in the lobby; we have patients in the hallway," said Tommye Austin, the chief nurse executive for University Health, one of the largest hospitals in San Antonio. On Sunday, there were 6,594 people in Texas hospitals with Covid-19. This was the highest number of Covid-19 patients admitted in hospitals since February 24.Texas has had 53,248 Covid-19 related deaths since the pandemic began last year making it the third-worst hit state in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

"It clearly has taken a very bad turn," Anthony Fauci, chief medical adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, said. He also singled out Texas, along with Florida, as the two states that are "are accounting for a very disproportionately high proportion -- something like 40% of the infections." The Houston area, with a population of 6.7 million, has just 41 ICU beds remaining. The greater Dallas area, which has more than 8 million people, has 110 ICU beds available.