Nearly 23% of hospitals report ‘critical staffing shortage’ amid record COVID-19 cases
Nearly 23% of hospitals throughout the United States reported critical staffing shortages on Tuesday as COVID-19 cases continue to surge, according to data released by the Department of Human and Health Services.
Out of 4,294 hospitals that reported to the HHS, 975 said they didn’t have enough nurses and doctors.
The staffing shortage comes as 80.8% of all ICU beds were full on Tuesday, 30.8% of which were being used for COVID-19 patients.
Several states have implemented emergency measures to deal with the shortage.
The situation is so dire in California that the state’s health department announced Saturday that nurses who test positive for COVID-19 can stay at work as long as they are asymptomatic and only interact with COVID-19 patients.
On Tuesday, 143 out of 199 hospitals in California that reported data to the HHS said they were dealing with a critical staffing shortage.
Under CDC guidelines, health care workers who test positive for COVID-19 can return to work immediately if a hospital enters “crisis” mode. Otherwise, health care personnel are advised to wait five days to return to work as long as their symptoms are improving. – READ MORE
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