'ripple effect'

Since nobody asked, me and my father (and my sister by association) have been incredibly cautious regarding COVID.  My dad is in very good shape for being 92, but there's no way in hell we're going to take any extra risks with regards to exposing him to anything.  We go shopping roughly once a week, and both of us mask up.  I'm happy to say that at least here in Bellingham our favorite grocery stores are very good about enforcing masks, and social distancing to a lesser extent.  All of us got our dual shots, and I'm planning on taking my Dad in for his booster this December, eight months after his second dose of Moderna.

So I guess the good news is that in this very rural, politically mixed area, people are doing what they can to stem the tide of the virus.

Then, there's the bad news or more simply, what happens when one state does what it can to stop the virus spread and a neighboring one "pulls a Florida":

"In conservative northern Idaho, only about 4 in 10 eligible residents are fully vaccinated. Hospitals there are so packed that authorities announced last week facilities would be allowed to ration care, potentially giving life-saving care to some patients at the expense of others.

Hospitals there have sent patients to hospitals in Washington, particularly in Spokane [eastern Washington], though how many is not clear. The New York Times reported Monday that as of last week, Providence Sacred Heart in Spokane had patients from Idaho taking up 29 beds.

Briley said that while it’s normal for eastern Washington hospitals to treat patients from Idaho and vice versa, the influx of COVID patients had caused 'some ripple effect' in western Washington.

'We are keeping our head above water, but barely,' said Dr. Christopher Baliga, an infectious disease specialist at Seattle’s Virginia Mason hospital. 'Our capacity to absorb overwhelmed patients from other states is severely limited.'”

It's almost as if peeing your pants over your "rights" and "freedoms" to not wear a mask or take a safe, free vaccine, is meaningless in the face of a global pandemic.

And no, Washington State shouldn't take any more patients from Idaho.  Not anybody who has chosen not to get the vaccine, at least.