Skyrocketing COVID-19 Cases Lead to Hospital Struggles Across the Nation

The United States is facing the biggest surge of COVID-19 cases to date. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Tuesday, January 11, there were 797,216 new cases of the disease.[1] To put this into context, during the summer of 2020, the peak number of new COVID cases per day was 77,000 – a more than tenfold increase since that time.[2] Cases are also geographically widespread, with 99.13 percent of the counties in the U.S. experiencing “high” levels of community transmission of COVID-19.[3] The CDC measures transmission level by examining the total new cases of COVID-19 infections reported over the past 7 days and the percent of positive COVID tests for the county over the past 7 days.[4] The higher number of new cases and higher percent positivity correspond to higher levels of community transmission.

In Connecticut, for example, every county is rated with a high transmission level. While 79.4 percent of the state’s population of five-year-olds and over are vaccinated, Connecticut’s Department of Public Health is reporting a 24 percent positivity rate.[5] Furthermore, 82 percent of hospitals beds in the state are filled, and over a quarter of them are being used for COVID-19 patients. Connecticut’s utilization statistics are slightly higher than the national average of 79.15 percent of beds being filled, and just over one-fifth being used for those with COVID-19.[6]

The Center for Medicare Advocacy analyzed state-aggregated data for hospital utilization provided by the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).[7] We highlight the top 25 states with the highest percent of inpatient population with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Maryland ranked highest, with 42 percent of hospital patients having or suspected to have COVID and inpatient utilization at 87 percent. Connecticut ranks 7^th, with 32 percent of hospital patients having or suspected to have COVID-19.

Exacerbating this strain is the fact that hospitals are facing critical staff shortages. All but five states, along with Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and American Samoa, reported hospitals with critical staff shortages.[8]

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[1] CDC. Trends in Number of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the US Reported to CDC, by State/Territory. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Updated January 12, 2022). Available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailycases 
[2] CDC. Trends in Number of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the US Reported to CDC, by State/Territory. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Updated January 12, 2022). Available at: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#trends_dailycases 
[3] CDC. Covid-19 County Check Tool. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (September 30, 2021). Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/aboutcovidcountycheck/index.html 
[4] CDC. Covid-19 County Check Tool. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (September 30, 2021). Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/more/aboutcovidcountycheck/index.html 
[5] CT.gov. Connecticut COVID-19 data tracker. CT.gov. (Updated January 11, 2022).  Available at: https://portal.ct.gov/Coronavirus/COVID-19-Data-Tracker 
[6] HHS. Hospital Utilization. HHS Protect Public Data Hub. (Updated January 12, 2022). Available at: https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/hospital-utilization 
[7] U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Covid-19 reported patient impact and hospital capacity by State. HealthData.gov. (Updated January 12, 2022). Available at: https://healthdata.gov/dataset/COVID-19-Reported-Patient-Impact-and-Hospital-Capa/6xf2-c3ie 
[8] HHS. Hospital Utilization. HHS Protect Public Data Hub. (Updated January 12, 2022). Available at: https://protect-public.hhs.gov/pages/hospital-utilization