MILWAUKEE — As Wisconsin registered more than 3,400 new cases of COVID-19 for a second day in a row Thursday, doctors statewide continued to warn of the ripple effect that's putting great strain on healthcare systems statewide, especially when it comes to ICU and ER availability.

"We're seeing a surge in our COVID patients— the Delta variant is really driving up cases ," Dr. Kyle Martin, an emergency department physician at SSM Health, told Spectrum News 1 on Thursday. "On top of that, we're still seeing standard emergency department cases— appendectomies, heart attacks, strokes— from patients who are coming in, so it's really a perfect storm right now and our volumes are at an all-time high."

As ICU beds fill up across Wisconsin and the rest of the country, some have tried to explain the crisis away on social media by claiming that staffing shortages and not a surge in actual cases are actually behind the issues at hospitals right now, something Dr. Martin says couldn't be further from the truth.

"It's definitely an inaccuracy," Dr. Martin said. "Sure, staffing is always an issue but that's not what's driving the ER overcrowding right now."

You can watch the entire interview above.