Delta Variant has hospitals reaching capacity as COVID-19 cases soar

"In the last few weeks we have experienced a very high number of patients as the Delta variant continues to spread."

FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Health officials are yet again warning of the severity of COVID-19 as cases across Cass and Clay counties continue to rise.

“Given the urgency of our current situation we felt it necessary to update the community as we enter our fourth wave with the Delta variant changing the game,” Fargo Cass Public Health Director, Desi Fleming said.

With the rise of COVID-19 cases across the country, health officials from Essentia Health and Sanford Health in Fargo say hospitals in the area are beginning to see the overwhelming impact of the Delta Variant.

“Our hospitals are incredibly busy. In the last few weeks we have experienced a very high number of patients as the Delta variant continues to spread. The overall number of patients in our medical centers in Fargo continues to stay well above 500 and today we are just a few patients shy of our record census reached during the last COVID peak in November,” Sanford Health VP & Medical Officer, Dr. Doug Griffin said.

“On a daily basis our hospitals have been at or near capacity. We’ve been working with having regular contact with our other hospitals and health systems throughout the state of North Dakota and Minnesota to help coordinate bed capacity and resources,”Essentia Health Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Richard Vetter said.

Griffin says Sanford Health currently has 39 patients being treated for COVID-19. Nine of which are in the ICU and on ventilators and two of them being pediatric patients.

Vetter over at Essentia Health says they have 11 in patients with COVID-19, two of which are in the ICU and one on a ventilator.

Health experts are also warning of the growing number of cases among children.

“The Delta variant is considered as contagious as chicken pox and more contagious than smallpox; this has created a new and pressing risk for children particularly those under the age of 12 which are not yet eligible for COVID-19 vaccination,” Fargo Cass Public Health Health Officer, Dr. Tracie Newman said.

“We are preparing to see more cases due to the delta’s impact on children and our children’s hospital is at maximum capacity as well,” Griffin said.

Health officials encourage everyone to do their part and follow the CDC’s COVID-19 guidelines.

Medical experts say there are plenty of vaccines still available and encourage those who have not yet gotten theirs to get vaccinated.

More information on vaccines and COVID-19 can be found here.