Amid a surge in coronavirus cases tied to the delta variant on the North Coast, more people are getting tested and Providence Seaside Hospital is “really busy,” a trend among hospitals everywhere, according to emergency room nurse Mary Romanaggi.

“We’re feeling it across Oregon and across the country,” she said. “I think part of it is that folks had put off care for the past 18 months.”

This increased demand is straining the testing capacity at local hospitals, clinics and the Clatsop County Public Health Department, according the county’s Vaccine Task Force.

To stem the tide, Gov. Kate Brown issued a mask mandate for all public spaces beginning on Friday.

When a coronavirus test is requested, Providence Seaside patients are sent to the emergency room for testing. Symptoms are so wide and varied, “we pretty much treat everybody like they’ve got COVID,” Romanaggi said.

Results are delivered within an hour, she said. Positive cases go into isolation in the emergency department.

The hospital does not have data on coronavirus positive cases in the emergency room, but has had one coronavirus in-patient in the past two weeks, hospital spokesperson Mike Antrim said.

Last year, coronavirus patients were sent to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland for treatment. Now they remain in Seaside as long as they don’t have to be on a ventilator.

“We provide care for COVID patients based on the acuity of their illness,” Antrim said. “The goal is to keep patients local when possible — and when it’s not, we transfer to one of our Portland-area hospitals.”

Across the Providence medical system, the hospital group is seeing a “surge of the unvaccinated,” Lisa Vance, president of strategy and operations for Providence North said Friday in urging Oregonians to get vaccinated.

“Our COVID inpatient numbers are approaching the highest levels of the pandemic. Our ICUs are filling up,” Vance said. “We are maxing out our equipment that helps COVID patients breathe. Combine that with the surge, and it’s obvious that urgent action is needed.”

As of Aug. 6, more than 22,000 or about 57% of Clatsop County residents were vaccinated. Most new cases of COVID-19 are seen among unvaccinated individuals, the county task force reported. Of 103 total new local cases between July 31 and Aug. 6, 71 were unvaccinated, 13 vaccinated, two partially vaccinated, and 17 unknown. The task force reported 12 outbreaks.

Vaccination remains the best option for avoiding infection or, in rare breakthrough cases, reducing the severity of infection and need for hospitalization, and the risk of death.

Last week, Brown required state health care workers to get the vaccine or submit to weekly testing for the virus.

Providence doesn’t mandate COVID vaccinations for its employees, but “most of our staff is vaccinated,” Romanaggi said.

Several weeks ago Providence notified all caregivers and providers that they are required to validate vaccination or sign a statement declining the vaccine, with a deadline of Sept. 30, Vance said.

Those declining will now be required to do at least weekly additional testing on a regular basis, participate in mandatory education about the vaccine, adhere to enhanced personal protective equipment requirements, and other measures as needed to keep patients and caregivers safe, she said.

“Get vaccinated,” Vance said. “Wear a mask. Take steps to take care of the other people in your community. The only way we can control this latest, more contagious variant is by working together. Providence is committed to doing that.”