"Who Will Get Ventilator" - Tough Choices In Parts Of US Ravaged By Delta

Coronavirus in US: Nationwide, the number of people dying in hospitals appears to have peaked, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Service data.

Parts of the U.S. health system "are in dire straits," as the spread of the Covid-19 delta variant forces some states to prepare for rationed medical care, Rochelle Walensky, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

"That means that we are talking about who is going to get a ventilator, who is going to get an ICU bed," Walensky said on CBS's "Face the Nation" on Sunday. "Those are not easy discussions to have, and that is not a place we want our health care system to ever be."

Idaho, among the U.S.'s least-vaccinated states, and Alaska have said that hospitals can begin to ration medical care if needed. A major hospital in Montana also implemented so-called "crisis of care standards" to prioritize who is treated. Health officials warned the measure could be widened across the state.

The delta surge has moved in intensity around the U.S., now hitting the northwest. Nationwide, the number of people dying in hospitals appears to have peaked, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Service data.