Maine deploys national guard to assist hospitals with COVID surge despite high vaccination rates

 

New York and Maine deploy National Guard troops to bolster Covid response

“I do not take this action lightly, but we must take steps to alleviate the strain on our health care system,” Maine Gov. Janet Mills said.

Governors in New York and Maine have activated National Guard troops to help respond to the Covid crisis amid a feared winter surge in cases, while New Hampshire is also expecting assistance.

In a statement on Wednesday, the New York National Guard announced that it had deployed 120 Army medics and Air Force medical technicians to 12 nursing homes and long-term care facilities across the state.

The development comes just over a week after New York Gov. Kathy Hochulordered the mission on Dec. 1, citing staff shortages as “the risk of a winter spike in Covid-19 cases rises.”

UPDATE: Maine deploys national guard to assist hospitals with COVID surge despite high vaccination rates

Maine has activated its national guard to assist hospitals across the state deal with a recent Covid surge, as the Northeast U.S. gets slammed by a surge in Covid cases.

The move was announced by Gov Janet Mills on Wednesday as hospitalizations in her state have increased by nearly 20 percent in the past two weeks.

Interestingly, states in the Northeast suffering from Covid surges are also leading the nation in vaccination rate.

Vermont (74 percent of population fully vaccinated); Rhode Island (74 percent); Maine (73 percent); Connecticut (73 percent) and Massachusetts (72 percent) are the top five U.S. states in vaccination rate.

New Hampshire also leads the nation in the share of people having received at least one shot, at 90 percent, with 63 percent of people being fully vaccinated.

I wonder what happened to our friend in Maine. 

I haven't heard from him in months.