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 The activation in the Panhandle and North Central health districts
follows a severe shortage of staffing and available beds in those
areas, the state's health department said in a statement.
Idaho Governor Brad Little said last week he was reactivating the
National Guard and directing up to 370 additional people to help
hospitals as they were overwhelmed with unvaccinated COVID-19
patients.
Little said at the time: "We are dangerously close to activating
statewide crisis standards of care – a historic step that means
Idahoans in need of healthcare could receive a lesser standard of
care or may be turned away altogether."
On Tuesday, the Republican governor said: "We have reached an
unprecedented and unwanted point in the history of our state. We
have taken so many steps to avoid getting here, but yet again we
need to ask more Idahoans to choose to receive the COVID-19
vaccine."
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 When "crisis standards of care"
are in effect, people who need medical care may
experience different treatment from what they
expect. For example, patients admitted to a
hospital may find that beds are not available or
are in repurposed rooms, or that needed
equipment is unavailable, the health department
said.
The northwestern U.S. state has so far seen
228,093 cases of COVID-19 and recorded over
2,400 deaths from the coronavirus, according to
its health department's website. There were
1,025 new coronavirus cases recorded on Tuesday.
Over 834,000 people in the state of more than
1.8 million residents have received at least one
dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while over 744,000
people are fully vaccinated, according to
government data.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru;
Editing by Peter Cooney)
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