19 states have fewer than 15% of ICU beds left as health care staffing shortages complicate care

Nineteen states have less than 15% remaining capacity in their ICUs. Four of them have less than 10%: Kentucky, Alabama, Indiana and New Hampshire, according to data Wednesday from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The other states are: Arizona, Delaware, Georgia, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas and Vermont, according to HHS.

Nationally, the number of people hospitalized in the US with Covid-19 has reached a record high -- 151,261 as of Wednesday. And as infection spreads, states and health care systems nationwide are handling shortages of available medical workers, who face a greater chance of Covid-19 exposure and must isolate after testing positive.

 

National Guard personnel and other federal emergency teams have been sent to hospitals and long-term care facilities in places including New Hampshire to alleviate burdens with medical and non-medical tasks. And a new wave of federally deployed medical teams will head soon to six states -- Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio and Rhode Island -- to help hospitals combat Covid-19, President Joe Biden is expected to announce Thursday.

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