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Idaho Extends Health Care Rationing Statewide Due to Virus

Idaho Extends Health Care Rationing Statewide Due to Virus

Calling the situation “dire,” Idaho Thursday extended health care rationing statewide as Covid-19 hospitalizations surge, state officials said in a statement issued from Boise.

Idaho has the lowest vaccination rate in the U.S. after West Virginia, according to the Bloomberg Vaccine Tracker

“The situation is dire – we don’t have enough resources to adequately treat the patients in our hospitals, whether you are there for COVID-19 or a heart attack or because of a car accident,” said David Jeppesen, director of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare.

Crisis of care standards were initially imposed in hard-hit northern Idaho, where anti-vaccine sentiment runs high, on Sept. 6.

Thursday’s emergency order was put in place at the request of a major medical network in the state, St. Luke’s Health System, officials said.

Effective Friday, Boise, the state capital, is requiring “proof of vaccination or proof of negative COVID-19 test” for city-sanctioned events with 250 or more attendees.

Virus deaths across Idaho between ages 18-49 doubled from last year and infections among babies and toddlers are at “record numbers,” Kathryn Turner, deputy state epidemiologist, said at a Tuesday news briefing.

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