National Guard Deployed In These 3 States As COVID Cases Hit Crisis Levels

As surging COVID cases put medical facilities at dangerously full capacities, three states in the U.S. have called in the National Guard for help.

Governors in Maine, New York and New Hampshire have deployed the National Guard after seeing hospitalizations hit record levels with little to no beds available again.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that 60 National Guard medical teams were being dispatched to various long-term care facilities across the state, including nursing homes and long-term care facilities, where resources are needed.

According to CNN, service members will be deployed to facilities in Syracuse, Rochester, Albany, Buffalo, Utica, Plattsburgh, Uniondale, Liberty, Vestal, Olean, Lyons and Goshen.

“As the weather gets colder and friends and family gather indoors for the holiday season, the risk of a winter spike in COVID-19 cases rises,” Hochul said in a statement. “My administration is carefully monitoring developments with the Omicron variant and is working to continue making vaccines and boosters widely available.”

Last week, Hochul said that northern New York hospital bed capacity had fallen to less than 10% due mostly to a lack of staff, CNN reported.

In Maine, Gov. Janet Mills said she was activating up to 75 Marine National Guard members to help with the “increasing strain on hospitals and to maintain access to inpatient health care services.”

National Guard members will be used in non-clinical support roles to alleviate short-term capacity constraints at hospitals amid a “sustained surge of COVID-19.”

Mills said the majority of people hospitalized in Maine are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19, with a record-high of 379 people in beds with the virus. This included 117 patients in critical care and 60 on ventilators.

As of Wednesday, the state had 42 intensive care unit beds available.

“I do not take this action lightly, but we must take steps to alleviate the strain on our health care system and ensure care for all those who need it,” Mills said in a statement.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced that the National Guard would be brought in to deal with the winter COVID surge.

As of Wednesday, the state had 462 new hospitalizations reported, the highest since the pandemic began, according to state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan. The state also recorded 1,184 new cases of the virus and 11 new COVID deaths.

A total of 70 National Guard members would be deployed to assist with “backroom tasks” such as food service and clerical jobs to free up staff, Sununu said. FEMA would be sending a “few dozen workers,” including 30 paramedics, to help out at hospitals.

Hospital staff in the state would receive additional help from “strike teams” through $6 million in funding through out-of-state supplemental hospital staff as patients are moved to other facilities for treatment, Sununu said.