Despite the increased capacity in an effort to meet the demand, the ICU availability in Arkansas is reaching zero, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson

Arkansas – Arkansas health care system is coming closer to the breaking point as the Covid-19 surges across the state and the situation with the virus is out of control for weeks.

The one thing that many Arkansans were fearing of, has became a reality since no more Covid-19 ICU beds are available in the state, at all. Despite the health officials’ efforts to increase the capacity of the ICU beds in the recent weeks, the high daily number of hospitalizations fulfilled even those, additional beds.

On Tuesday, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson has once again urged Arkansans to get vaccinated as soon as possible. His recent public calls for vaccination combined with the fear of the Delta variant have slight increased the vaccination rates across the state.

Currently, the only problem for the hospitals is not only the availability of ICU beds, but workers shortage too.

Speaking from the capitol on Tuesday, both the governor and the secretary of Health Dr. Jose Romero noted that only 50% of the ICU beds in Arkansas can be used for Covid-19 patients. Despite all the efforts in the past period, hospitals in Arkansas were running close to the limit or without ICU beds available amid the latest Delta variant spread.

They also added that they will push the school districts to enforce mask mandates in the school to keep the children as safe as possible since those under the age of 12 are not eligible for vaccination and are considered as high-risk category.

Since last week, less than 300 positive cases in schools have been reported. For now, not a single school has moved to virtual learning as a result of the situation. State officials are looking forward schools to continue their in-person teaching in the upcoming period too.

In the Tuesday’s report, 2,223 new cases and 45 deaths were reported.