As the threat from Auckland's Delta outbreak subsides in the South, more than 14,000km away in the United States, Marcie Amoroson describes a war zone in the fight against Covid-19. Photo / 123RF
As the threat from Auckland's Delta outbreak subsides in the South, more than 14,000km away in the United States, Marcie Amoroson describes a war zone in the fight against Covid-19.
Originally from Mosgiel, the Conway Regional Medical Centre nurse described how Covid had taken hold near the resort city of Myrtle Beach, on South Carolina's Atlantic coast.
Amoroson, who works in the ICU ward, believed New Zealand's strict lockdown would be hard — but ''it's pretty bad right here, right now'', she said.
''How many mothers, and fathers, and sisters, and brothers and children have you guys saved?'' she said.
As people died, she held their hands ''because a lot of the family can't''.
The Herald-Sun of Durham, North Carolina, reports the state of South Carolina has a 47.5% vaccination rate at present, one of the lowest in the country.
The state reported more than 4200 new cases on Monday.
The exact number of Delta cases was unknown because only a fraction of the Covid-19 cases undergo genome sequencing, the process to determine the variant.
The state had not recorded fewer than 1000 cases a day since July 24.
The death toll to start the week was 10,526, it said.