Alabama is down to 2 ICU beds while thousands of additional students quarantine due to Covid-19

One state is down to 2 ICU beds while thousands of additional students quarantine due to Covid-19 Those unvaccinated against Covid-19 aren't just risking their own health -- they're also jeopardizing medical care for others and fueling a surge that's forcing more students to quarantine, doctors say. Holly Yan and Madeline Holcombe, CNN CNN

....Only two ICU beds are left in the entire state of Alabama, the Alabama Hospital Association told CNN on Tuesday. ...In Tennessee, “We are prepared to deploy additional medical personnel from the Tennessee National Guard to our hospitals in greatest need of assistance,” the state health department wrote in a letter Monday.

In Kentucky, hospitals are starting to cancel or postpone surgeries that would require post-operative admission to the hospital, state Public Health Commissioner Dr. Steven Stack said. ...

More than 3,000 students and employees have been quarantined in the New Orleans Public School District due to Covid-19 cases in the past week, according to the district’s latest tally.

That represents 5.89% of all students and teachers in the school district.

In Florida, 5,599 students and 316 employees in in Hillsborough County Public Schools were in isolation or quarantine as of Monday morning due to Covid-19 cases, according to the school district....

Doctors say one way to help students stay in classrooms is to have students – particularly those who are not vaccinated – wear masks in school, health experts say.

“It shouldn’t be for months. It shouldn’t be forever. But right now, when people are coming back in, masking is a reasonable public health step,” said Dr. Brett Giroir, former assistant secretary for health in the Trump administration. ...