These articles span a timeline of a few weeks, but given the Thanksgiving surge, I think all these articles still apply:
ICU availability reaches 0 percent in Southern California amid coronavirus surge
“Medical facilities in Imperial, Inyo, Los Angeles, Mono, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties all reported 0.5 percent capacity levels Wednesday before falling to 0 percent Thursday, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“‘There are simply not enough trained staff to care for the volume of patients that are projected to come and need care,’ Christina Ghaly, Los Angeles County's director of health services, said Wednesday.
“‘Our hospitals are under siege, and our model shows no end in sight,’ she added.”
No ICU beds left in Mississippi as COVID-19 case levels continue to hit record highs
“According to data from the health department, at least 300 patients were confirmed to be in ICU beds across the state as of Wednesday. In the Jackson metro area, Dobbs has stated that there has been no bed availability for intensive care patients for several weeks.
“In November, Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the University of Mississippi Medical Center's School of Medicine, said ICU beds in their network are full.”
'I have one available ICU bed': Arizona hospitals heading towards catastrophic new year
“‘I have one available ICU bed, which means I’m at 98% capacity this morning,’ said Dr. Michael White, Chief Medical Officer Valleywise Health.
“Arizona's largest public health provider’s ICU beds are nearly at capacity.”
Southern Colorado Hospitals Reach ICU Bed Capacity As COVID Hospitalizations Continue To Rise
“A regional map of ICU bed availability from CDPHE shows hospitals have reached capacity in the San Luis Valley along with the southwest and southeast corners of the state.”
East TN hospital ICUs are nearly full, putting every COVID-19 benchmark in the red for the first time
“According to Wednesday's weekly regional metrics from the Knox County Health Department, ICU capacity across all 16 East Tennessee counties is sitting just above 97% -- and there are only 8 ICU beds open in the entire region out of the 284 available.”
‘No Time for Discussion,' 6 ICU Beds Left in Denton County; COVID-19 Hospitalizations Hit New High
“‘DCPH is monitoring our shortage of ICU availability today. With only six ICU beds available, there is simply no time for discussion,’ stated Dr. Matt Richardson, DCPH Director. ‘Masks and distancing are the only way to help a stressed and critical situation developing in our hospitals. We’re asking everyone to be a part of the solution – comply with the recommendations to help others.’”
Clay County down to 2 ICU beds available. Jackson County has 5.
“Here is where area communities stand on ICU bed availability, according to data compiled and continually updated by the Mid-America Regional Council:
- KC Metro: 107
- Kansas City, MO: 21
- Clay County: 2
- Jackson County (not including KCMO): 5
- Johnson County: 21”
Delco ICU Bed Availability Drops To Single Digits
“According to the state, just 8.4 percent of ICU beds are available in the county. The state considers 10 percent a critical point, where it may require hospitals to start postponing elective surgeries and other procedures.
“That 8.4 percent represents eight total open ICU beds in Delaware County.”
'No beds anywhere': Minnesota hospitals strained to limit by COVID-19
“‘There’s no beds anywhere,’ said Dr. Matthew Klee, whose ICU at Mercy is full and under pressure to take patients throughout Minnesota and western Wisconsin. ‘It’s become like a game of chess over the entire state.’
“At one point this month, 30 people were in the Regions ER waiting for inpatient admission due to lack of beds.”
No ICU beds available in Tulsa amid COVID-19 case spike
“No intensive care unit beds were available in Tulsa hospitals Monday night amid record-breaking numbers of COVID-19 cases, a spokesman for the Oklahoma Regional Medical Response System confirmed.
“Adam Paluka, a spokesman for the system’s District 7 in Tulsa, told the Tulsa World on Monday night that the capacity limit applies to hospitals in the city but not the entirety of Tulsa County.
“He had said earlier in the evening that two Tulsa hospitals still had ICU beds available, and he noted Monday night that the situation can change by the hour.”
All over the United States, hospitals are reaching their breaking points. We have reached the nightmare scenario where many hospitals all over the United States cannot even accept any new patients because there are no beds to spare.
It did not have to be this way. Let’s compare our numbers to a country touted as having had one of the best responses to the coronavirus pandemic: South Korea.
The United States has a population of about 330,000,000 people. South Korea has a population of about 52,000,000. That is about 16% of what the United States has.
Granted, South Korea is also experiencing a surge in number of people infected and is also running out of hospital beds, with less than 50 ICU beds available. Let us look at the coronavirus numbers. The United States has over 17 million confirmed coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, South Korea only has about 47,000 total cases. That’s only 0.28% compared to the United States. In terms of deaths, the United States recorded over 311,000 deaths, while South Korea recorded 634 deaths. That’s only 0.20% compared to the United States.
One could question why South Korea is running out of hospital beds when their coronavirus numbers are so low, but that’s not for here. The point is that the situation in the United States did NOT have to happen. Our numbers did not need to be as high as they are, and our hospitals would have been okay.
What is the difference? National leadership. South Korea has democratic leadership that acted early and swiftly to meet the challenges of the pandemic. They instituted a national program to stem the tide of the virus with very little disagreement and pushback. Everyone wore and still wears masks. There is thorough contact tracing, meaning they will be able to find out quickly what happened where.
Meanwhile, despite knowing about the pandemic since last February, the current administration did nothing and still does nothing. There is an entire political party that is hostile to the science of curbing a pandemic, and since that party was the one in power the last year, they left states to fend for themselves.
Unfortunately, it is too late to do anything now, and our health care system will continue to be in dire straits for the foreseeable future. All I can say now is please do not get sick, do not get hurt, and take very good care of yourself. There may not be any medical help available for you otherwise.