page = covid-19 : npr
url = https://www.npr.org/tags/804916759/covid-19
Nurses and doctors in the CoxHealth Emergency Department in Springfield, Mo., don personal protective equipment to treat patients with COVID-19 on July 16. Many overwhelmed hospitals, with no beds to offer, are sending critically ill COVID-19 patients to far-flung states for treatment. Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via AP hide caption
Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via AP
Many Hospitals With No Beds Left Are Forced To Send COVID Patients To Cities Far Away
August 19, 2021 • Many overwhelmed hospitals, with no beds to offer, are putting critically ill COVID-19 patients on planes, helicopters and ambulances and sending them hundreds of miles away for treatment.
With echoes of the early days of the pandemic, ICU beds are filling to capacity rapidly in several states. In this photo from December 2020, East Alabama Medical Center nurse Harvard Graham checks fluids for a COVID-19 patient in the intensive care unit in Opelika, Ala. Julie Bennett/AP hide caption
Julie Bennett/AP
August 19, 2021 • There are 29 more patients than there are open ICU beds as of Wednesday. The recent run, reminiscent of early in the pandemic, is occurring largely in states with the lowest vaccination rates.