One of the main drivers of the COVID-19 pandemic is Intensive Care Unit (ICU) capacity as resources such as hospital staff and personal protective equipment (PPE) are continuously used up. Although disaster planning for such a contingency had already taken place (and indeed has been updated),[1] the sheer scale of the impact first became apparent on the state level in late November 2020.[2][3][4]
Not least amongst the concerns is the tremendous strain on staff and the inability to transfer patients to other hospitals which are likewise swamped, a particular problem in rural states which have commensurate health care infrastructure.[5]
So serious is the issue that Governor Newsom of California issued a strict stay-at-home order to take effect 48 hours whenever any of that state's five regions -Northern California, San Francisco Bay Area, Southern California, Greater Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley, and Southern California reach 15% remaining capacity as projections were that hospitals shall be swamped by Christmas.[6]
References
- ^ McCarthy, Niall (2020-05-22). "States Compared [Infographic]". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
- ^ Phelan, John (2020-11-20). "Minnesota's total ICU capacity has fallen by 229 beds – 10.6% – since early October". Center of the American Experiment. Retrieved 2020-12-02.
- ^ "COVID-19 Data Dashboard – Patient Impact & Hospital Capacity". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. July 16, 2020.
- ^ Soo, Kim (2020-10-20). "Utah Hospital's ICU at 104 Percent Capacity as State Sees Record COVID Hospitalizations". Newsweek.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ Simmons, Tommy (2020-12-01). "Some Treasure Valley hospitals faced decisions on ICU capacity Monday night as COVID-19 cases rise". Idaho Press.
- ^ Moon, Sarah (2020-12-04). "Newsom issues regional stay-at-home order based on ICU capacity to battle record Covid surge in California". MSN News.
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This page was last edited on 24 August 2023, at 04:10