Hospitals report that three-quarters of the intensive care units in the United States are full, as COVID-19 continues to rampage the country.
Federal data shows almost 77.3 percent of all ICU beds are occupied with 28 percent of those beds filled with confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Almost half of all states report their hospitals’ ICUs have exceeded 75 percent capacity.
The high percentage shows that many hospitals are approaching or reaching their capacity to take care of the sickest patients, even as national hospitalizations for COVID-19 continue to climb.
Alabama has surpassed its ICU capacity as hospitals report 1,613 patients in ICU units, amounting to 102.3 percent of the state’s ICU beds.
Other states are nearing their limit for ICU beds, with Mississippi, Florida, Texas, Georgia and Arkansas all at least 90 percent full.
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