21 Cities Where Doctors are "Overwhelmed" by COVID

With the COVID-19 winter surge well under way and the number of infected individuals increasing daily, the inevitable is happening: hospitals are being filled beyond the brink of capacity. From Pennsylvania to Colorado, the nation's top health institutions are running out of beds, medical experts, and even the resources needed to treat all of the patients infected with the deadly virus — as well as those who are coming in with non-COVID related ailments. Read on to hear how bad things are, and to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had Coronavirus.

"We are being overwhelmed by the volume of COVID-19 patients," Dr. Darren Mareiniss, MD, FACEP, Emergency Medicine Physician at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia and Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, tells Eat This, Not That! Health. "It's clear that people are not following restrictions and the disease is unchecked and rapidly spreading. On the ground, that results in increased numbers of hospital admissions and ICU beds/ventilator utilization," he continues. "We are at or near capacity in many jurisdictions and this surge has just begun."

The New York Times reveals that over one-third of Americans live in areas where hospitals are running critically short of intensive care beds. According to the latest data—the first time the federal government has published detailed geographic information regarding coronavirus patients in hospitals—here are the 20 places where hospitals have reached, or will soon reach, capacity. 

City: White Plains, New York

Hospital Occupancy: 79%

ICU Occupancy: 79%

City: Troy, Michigan

Hospital Occupancy: 79%

ICU Occupancy: 87%

City: Abington, Pennsylvania

Hospital Occupancy: 77%

ICU Occupancy: 102%

City, Hospital Occupancy, ICU Occupancy

City: Fort Thomas, Kentucky

Hospital Occupancy: 146%

ICU Occupancy: 82%

City: Amarillo, Texas

Hospital Occupancy: 78%

ICU Occupancy: 94%

City: Saginaw, Michigan

Hospital Occupancy: 98%

ICU Occupancy: 99%

City: Oak Lawn, Illinois

Hospital Occupancy: 71%

ICU Occupancy: 78%

City: Paterson, New Jersey

Hospital Occupancy: 71%

ICU Occupancy: 50%

City: Jonesboro, Arkansas

Hospital Occupancy: 78%

ICU Occupancy: 94%

City: Altoona, Pennsylvania

Hospital Occupancy: 94%

ICU Occupancy: 94%

City: Danville, Pennsylvania

Hospital Occupancy: 83%

ICU Occupancy: 89%

City: Haxtun, Colorado

Hospital Occupancy: 74%

ICU Occupancy: —

City: Hershey, Pennsylvania

Hospital Occupancy: 79%

ICU Occupancy: 88%

City: Scotland, South Dakota

Hospital Occupancy: 63%

ICU Occupancy: —

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City: Ransom, Kansas

Hospital Occupancy: 58%

ICU Occupancy: —

City: Creighton, Nebraska

Hospital Occupancy: 90%

ICU Occupancy: —

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City: Stroud, Oklahoma

Hospital Occupancy: 56%

ICU Occupancy: —

City: Scobey, Montana

Hospital Occupancy: 60%

ICU Occupancy: —

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City: Piggott, Arkansas

Hospital Occupancy: 78%

ICU Occupancy: —

City: Oakley, Kansas

Hospital Occupancy: 41%

ICU Occupancy: —

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City: Southfield, Michigan

Hospital Occupancy: 79%

ICU Occupancy: 73%

Dr. Mareiniss, who recently published an article, "The Emperor Has No Clothes – Medical Journals and Experts Must Stand Up and Condemn the Federal Pandemic Response" in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, explains that if the spread of the virus isn't mitigated soon though lockdown, resources will soon run out and the prognosis will be very grim. 

"We will be forced to enact 'crisis standards of care' and allocate ICU resources, such as ventilators, to patients who are most likely to survive," he says.

In this case, COVID patients won't be the only ones who are affected. "The lack of resources will impair our ability to treat all patients.  Strokes, heart attacks, sepsis, fractures… every patient will be affected," he points out. "Many avoidable deaths will result unless we change this trend."

As for yourself, do everything you can to prevent getting—and spreading—COVID-19 in the first place, no matter where you live: Wear a face mask, get tested if you think you have coronavirus, avoid crowds (and bars, and house parties), practice social distancing, only run essential errands, wash your hands regularly, disinfect frequently touched surfaces, and to get through this pandemic at your healthiest, don't miss these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.