States expand boosters, activate crisis care as delta rolls on

Enlarge / Frontline workers of the Medical Center of Aurora gather in front of the hospital for a COVID-19 memorial in Aurora, Colorado, on July 15, 2021. (credit: Getty | Denver Post)

More states are activating crisis standards of care, and at least two have expanded access to COVID-19 vaccine booster doses as the delta wave continues to wash across the country.

While cases and hospitalizations have subsided in previous southeastern hotspots such as Florida and Alabama, the wave has headed north and west. Nationally, new cases of COVID-19 have plateaued at a high level of more than 70,000 per day, down from September peaks of upwards of 160,000.

North Dakota, Colorado, Minnesota, Alaska, and Vermont currently have the top-five highest case rates per 100,000 people, according to tracking by The New York Times. New Mexico, which ranks seventh for the highest daily case rates, is seeing a surge in hospitalizations, and more facilities are moving to crisis standards of care.

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