US hospitals overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases

Rhode Island is setting up field hospitals to handle COVID-19 patients. New York may call on retired doctors and nurses for help. In Reno, Nevada, a medical center began moving some coronavirus patients into its parking garage. West Virginia and Pennsylvania are looking at delaying elective surgeries as virus numbers surge.

Across the United States, from major cities to rural communities, hospitals are under siege as cases mount. The coronavirus is spreading so fast in Nevada that one person is diagnosed with it every minute, and someone is dying from it every two hours, state health officials said on Nov 25. Some hospitals lack enough doctors and nurses and protective equipment, as well as ventilators; others don't have enough hospital beds.

A record 98,691 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in the US as of Tuesday evening, according to the COVID Tracking Project. More than 30 percent of all cases ever reported in the US happened in November, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Now the big concern is overwhelmed hospitals, which can lead to more deaths.

On Nov 23, Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease doctor, warned that deaths could top 300,000 by the end of the year if the trajectory does not change.

Asked about the warning, China's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Wednesday: "I have a very heavy heart as I hear this news, especially with these shocking figures." And she expressed her sympathy to US citizens.

"China is willing to strengthen cooperation and unity with other countries in the world including the US in the fight against the pandemic," she added.

And the big fear is that cases will mount because so many US citizens traveled for the long Thanksgiving holiday, and cases are unlikely to show in public data until the first full week of December at the earliest.

"Perhaps the worst days are ahead of us," said doctor Clay Marsh, West Virginia's COVID-19 czar.

A University of Arizona COVID-19 modeling team recently urged the state to take action to stem hospitalizations or else "risk a catastrophe on a scale of the worst natural disaster the state has ever experienced".

The Kansas Hospital Association reported on Monday that about 44 percent of its hospitals were anticipating staff shortages.

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday said that capacity for intensive care unit beds in the state might reach 112 percent by Christmas Eve, if the trend continues.

In Texas, about 5,550 extra medical personnel have been deployed around the state, said Lara Anton, a spokeswoman for the state's health services department. That doesn't include help from the military and volunteer organizations.

In New York on Sunday, the state reported 3,500 hospitalizations for COVID-19－a number first seen in March. The state is close to overwhelming its hospital system with new cases, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday. "I think of this as a war," he said.