California’s most sparsely populated counties have been hit hard by the delta variant as residents express vaccine hesitancy.
Los Angeles Times Reporter Hailey Branson has been covering the impact of COVID-19 in California rural counties. Her most recent story focuses on Del Norte County in the far northwest corner of the state, where only 32% of the population is vaccinated.
Doubt, mistrust and conspiracy theories are wreaking havoc on the medical staff and local officials trying to get the recent outbreak under control.
"You can hear the frustration in the voices of the doctors who work up there and even in local officials who are saying 'this is not political, please be careful, these are our neighbors and our friends who are in the mortuaries,'" Branson said to KCBS Radio.
The county is completely overwhelmed.
22 of the 36 patients in the local hospital have COVID-19. Eight of those patients fill the nine available ICU beds.
The local mortuary has had to bring in a refrigerated truck to handle the growing number of bodies and doctors are preparing to airlift some patients to other hospitals.
When Branson presents her findings to residents in these rural California towns she is often met with complete denial.
"You’re lying, you’re making it up," is a common reaction, Branson said. "People just don’t believe it."
A local hospital warned that case loads could stay like this for another two to four weeks.
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