In one county, more than 1,000 Covid-19 deaths in a week
But vaccination efforts are not all that local and state leaders are worried about. After a holiday season during which millions of Americans traveled -- despite experts' advice -- some officials now report alarming trends.
"We're at three times the hospitalizations we saw in November and almost seven times where we were in October," Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, the chief medical officer for Ohio's health department, said Tuesday. "Our ICU beds are also very busy. In fact, our ICUs are caring for over 1,000 patients and more than a quarter of our ICU beds are filled with Covid care."
In California, Los Angeles County health officials said Tuesday there have been more than 1,000 new Covid-19 deaths in less than a week.
"While vaccines are a powerful tool, we do not need to wait for vaccines to stop new COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and death. We can do that now," Ferrer, the county's health director, said in a statement. "It takes every business and every resident to purposefully follow public health directives and safety measures. Please stay home and leave only for essential work or essential services."
There are more than 8,000 people hospitalized with Covid-19 across the county, officials said -- and 20% of them are in intensive care.
In Georgia, about one in 15 residents has been infected with the virus, and more than one in 1,000 has died, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
About 91% of ICU beds across the state are occupied and 85% of all inpatient beds are occupied, according to estimates published by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Arizona health officials, meanwhile, reported just 8% of all ICU beds were available Monday. About 62% of people in the ICU are Covid-19 patients and 57% of the state's available ventilators are in use, according to the state's Covid-19 dashboard.
