'What we're dealing with now is completely different,' says pulmonologist who lost 3 patients in week
An Alabama doctor is seeing young, healthy patients die from COVID-19 amid the surge of the delta variant.
Dr. Jenna Carpenter, a pulmonary care physician at Marshall Medical South in Guntersville, Alabama, has lost three patients under the age of 40 in the past week from complications related to COVID-19, she told ABC Huntsville, Alabama, affiliate WAAY.
"The young man I lost this week was perfectly healthy," she said. "He wasn't overweight. He did not have any known medical issues and that was a tragedy."
The worst phone call the physicians have to make is to inform family members that their loved one has taken a turn for the worst, Carpenter added.
"In our heart we know this is going to be the last time these folks talk to their families," she said.
The state currently has more ICU patients than beds, and frontline workers are also getting sick from the highly contagious variant, WAAY reported.
"Last week we were down to 35 or 40 ICU beds. Now we are down at the single digits," Dr. Don Williamson, a former state health officer who is now the president and CEO of the Alabama Hospital Association, told the station. "It doesn’t matter if it is six or two, we could even be negative ICU beds."
-ABC News’ Cherise Rudy