BOISE, Idaho (CBS2) — The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has activated Crisis Standards of Care in south, southwest and central health districts.

These standards are being put in due to severe staffing and blood shortages.

Covid has caused several staff members to be unable to work which, coupled with staffing shortages, is limiting hospitals' capacities.

“The highly contagious Omicron variant has thrown us a curveball,” said Dave Jeppesen, IDHW Director. “Once again, the situation in our hospitals and health systems is dire – we don’t have enough resources to adequately treat patients. Please get vaccinated and boosted if you can and wear a high-quality protective mask in public places."

Omicron is so much more contagious than previous variants, and even though a lower percentage of cases are ending up in the hospital, the record number of cases is still putting strain on our healthcare system.

Not every hospital in these health districts will move to Crisis Standards of Care--if a hospital is managing without them, it will continue to do so.

"While this activation area encompasses St. Luke’s Health System’s footprint, St. Luke’s is not currently operating in Crisis Standards of Care," said Taylor Reeves, public relations coordinator with St. Luke's. "Though St. Luke's continues to face similar challenges of staffing shortages and the nationwide blood supply shortage as we operate at contingency standards of care, this activation does not require changes to St. Luke’s current operations. It does give us the flexibility to adjust as our situation requires."

"We continue to monitor staffing, patient volumes and capacity for care," Reeves said.

People needing health care should continue to seek it as needed. Hospitals and clinics are open to serve the health care needs of our communities.

These standards will be removed when the state's hospitals can offer the usual standards of care to all patients once again.

Below is a full timeline of Crisis Standards of Care in Idaho over the last several months.

-Sept. 6, 2021: Crisis Standards of Care activated in the Panhandle Health District in northern Idaho.

-Sept. 16, 2021: Crisis Standards of Care expanded to the entire state.

-Nov. 22, 2021: Crisis Standards of Care deactivated in all but the Panhandle Health District.

-Dec. 20, 2021: Crisis Standards of Care deactivated in the Panhandle Health District.

-Jan. 24, 2022: Crisis Standards of Care activated in Southwest District Health, Central District Health, and South Central District Health in southern Idaho.

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