Associated Press 
Arkansas does not have any intensive care unit beds available for COVID-19 patients as a surge in virus cases continues to overwhelm the state’s health system, Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced Tuesday.
Hutchinson said Tuesday marked the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began that no ICU beds were available for COVID-19 patients. Virus patients make up about half of the state’s ICU beds. The number of virus patients in ICUs and on ventilators reached a new high in the state on Monday.
“Everyone should know the strain this puts on our hospitals and the need to get our vaccinations and how critical our bed space is,” Hutchinson told reporters at a news conference.
Preventable COVID-19 hospitalizations cost $2.3 billion in June and July
Hutchinson said hospitals in the state were working to open more ICU beds for virus patients Arkansas Department of Health Chief of Staff Renee Mallory said one hospital planned to open additional beds later Tuesday and possibly later in the week. The state on Monday reported it had 22 ICU beds available, but only a handful were equipped to handle COVID-19 patients.
Arkansas ranks fifth in the country for new cases per capita, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University researchers. Arkansas has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, with 40% of the state’s population fully vaccinated.
Dr. Jose Romero, the state’s health secretary, said the surge in cases is continuing to keep the state’s ICU capacity tight.
“The more beds we open up, the more they’re going to get filled,” Romero told reporters.
‘I see a lot of sadness’: Another COVID surge brings more misery to Louisiana hospital In a report issued earlier Tuesday, public health researchers forecast that the state’s death toll from COVID-19 will exceed 7,000 by Aug. 30. Arkansas on Monday reported 6,704 people have died from the virus since the pandemic began.
“If this forecast holds true, COVID-19 will have killed more Arkansans than all the wars in the 20th and 21st centuries,” the forecast by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences’ Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health said.
The researchers’ forecast also predicted the number of children hospitalized due to COVID-19 will increase by 20% through Aug. 30 and 34% through Sept. 14.
“Hospitalizations and patients requiring intensive cases have reached record numbers and put our hospital system in a precarious position,” the report said. The report’s cover featured a photo of a forest fire, a reference to how UAMS researchers have described the state’s surge in cases and hospitalizations.
Hospitals see lower July operating margins in high delta areas
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