ICU Beds Filling Up Nationally; How Do Virginia’s ICUs Look?

According to this morning’s NY Times:

“The number of hospitals with full or nearly full I.C.U.s has doubled nationwide since the beginning of October, according to a New York Times analysis of data reported by hospitals and released by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Currently, more than two in five U.S. hospitals with intensive care units have reached occupancy levels of 85 percent or higher. When bed availability dwindles, hospitals begin to operate in crisis mode; in California, 85 percent occupancy is the threshold to trigger regional stay-at-home orders. In early October, just a quarter of U.S. hospitals’ I.C.U.s were that full.”

How about here in Virginia? For the week ending Dec. 17, here are some localities to illustrate the range of % I.C.U. beds occupied in Virginia; keep in mind that 85% or higher is very bad:

• South Hill: 100% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Marion: 100% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Roanoke: 98% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Blacksburg: 97% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Fairfax: 94% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Abingdon: 93% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Chesapeake: 92% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Lynchburg: 91% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Richmond: 89% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Falls Church: 89% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Winchester: 86% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Culpeper: 85% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Wytheville: 82% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Petersburg: 78% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Alexandria: 77% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Fredericksburg: 76% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Leesburg: 70% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Charlottesville: 62% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Arlington: 56% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Staunton: 51% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Norfolk: 50% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Manassas: 45% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Virginia Beach: 43% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Harrisonburg: 38% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Woodbridge: 36% of I.C.U. beds occupied
• Suffolk: 34% of I.C.U. beds occupied

So…kind of a mix of really bad (85%+ beds occupied), bad/pretty bad (e.g., in the 60%s and 70%s), and relatively not too bad at the moment (in the 30% and 40%). Let’s just hope people exercise caution – wear masks, practice social distancing, etc. – during the holidays, or we could see these percentages climb to dangerous levels in more areas of Virginia.