Alabama man dies after turned away from 43 hospitals packed with COVID patients, family says

ByAlex Presha ABCNews logo

Monday, September 13, 2021

Man turned away from 43 hospitals packed with COVID patients dies

An Alabama man died when he was turned away from 43 hospitals packed with COVID patients.

Across the U.S., the Delta variant is not slowing down. ICU beds in seven states are running out, leaving little room for other emergencies.

Ray DeMonia's family said it took calls to 43 hospitals across three states to get the 73-year-old a cardiac ICU bed. He later died in a facility in Mississippi, 200 miles from his Alabama home. His relatives wrote in his obituary "please get vaccinated...to free up resources for non-COVID related emergencies."

This comes as COVID cases in children continue to rise, now making up one in four new infections.

More than a quarter million cases were reported last week, which is the highest on record.

President Biden laid out his plan to get private businesses to vaccinate employees, but what about in children -- specifically those younger than 12?

Alex Presha has more on the president's six-point vaccination plan for the nation.

There are new questions about vaccines in young children as experts tell parents to wait, for now.

The FDA is out with a new warning Monday telling parents to not give children under 12 the COVID vaccine until the agency gives approval, saying in part, "children are not small adults."

The former head of the FDA laid out his "best case scenario" on when they will be available for children.

"You could potentially have a vaccine available to children aged 5 to 11 by Halloween, if everything goes well," said Scott Gottlieb, former FDA commissioner.

President Biden also mandated last week that businesses with more than 100 employees must either require vaccinations or enforce weekly testing.

The U.S. surgeon general defended the move.

"It's to help us get through this, keep our kids in school, keep our economy going, and give us the peace of mind," said Vivek Murthy.

However, republican governors of at least 19 states are now vowing to fight back.

"If you go to the pediatric hospitals, particularly in the south where you are, you will see the pediatric hospitals are crowded with kids with COVID."

"This is an unprecedented assumption of federal mandate authority that really disrupts and divides the country," said Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson.

Vaccine mandates are already resulting in resignations at one rural New York state hospital.

"The number of resignations received leaves us no choice but to pause delivering babies," said Gerald Cayer, CEO of Lewis County Health System.

Further south in New York City, as of Monday, anyone over the age of 12 must show proof of vaccination for things like indoor dining, gyms or theaters.

More than 80,000 non-essential municipal employees are scheduled to return to their workplaces in New York City Monday.

Report a correction or typo