(Bloomberg) -- 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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