10 Worst States for COVID-19 ICU Bed Use
Many COVID-19 pandemic intensity indicators look much worse now than they did three weeks ago. One indicator that may indicate what will happen to mortality, and life insurance claims, is use of hospital intensive care unit (ICU) beds. Changes in the number of new cases detected could be the result of new back-to-school and back-to-the-office testing programs. ICU beds, in contrast, are reserved only for the sickest COVID-19 patients, who tend to face a relatively high risk of dying. At the state level, the median percentage of staffed, adult ICU beds occupied by patients with COVID-19 increased to 22% during the week ending Aug. 24, up from 10% for the week ending Aug. 3, according to data collected by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The percentage stood at about 25% at the beginning of the year, as COVID-19 mortality was about to spike. The percentage of adult staffed ICU beds occupied by patients with COVID-19 during the latest week ranged from just 5%, in New Jersey, up to 56%, in one state in the South. For a look at the 10 states with the worst COVID-19 adult ICU bed occupancy percentages, see the slideshow above. For COVID-19 ICU bed occupancy rates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, see the chart below.
Hospital Adult Intensive Care Unit Occupancy | |||
| (As of the week ending Aug. 24) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult Staffed ICU Beds Occupied (in percent) | Adult Staffed ICU Beds Occupied by COVID-19 Patients (in percent) | Change in Staffed Adult ICU Beds Occupied by COVID-19 Patients, Since Previous Week (in percentage points) | |
| Alabama | 96% | 48% | 6% |
| Alaska | 80% | 28% | 8% |
| Arizona | 61% | 21% | 3% |
| Arkansas | 86% | 45% | 6% |
| California | 79% | 26% | 4% |
| Colorado | 72% | 19% | 4% |
| Connecticut | 54% | 8% | 3% |
| Delaware | 79% | 16% | 8% |
| District of Columbia | 79% | 8% | 1% |
| Florida | 91% | 49% | 3% |
| Georgia | 91% | 47% | 6% |
| Hawaii | 76% | 34% | 9% |
| Idaho | 83% | 42% | 3% |
| Illinois | 69% | 13% | 2% |
| Indiana | 75% | 22% | 5% |
| Iowa | 71% | 17% | 2% |
| Kansas | 75% | 26% | 3% |
| Kentucky | 87% | 33% | 11% |
| Louisiana | 89% | 50% | 5% |
| Maine | 76% | 15% | 3% |
| Maryland | 71% | 12% | 2% |
| Massachusetts | 75% | 9% | 3% |
| Michigan | 75% | 9% | 1% |
| Minnesota | 76% | 16% | 4% |
| Mississippi | 89% | 56% | 6% |
| Missouri | 88% | 37% | 0% |
| Montana | 70% | 21% | -2% |
| Nebraska | 75% | 18% | 5% |
| Nevada | 86% | 34% | 0% |
| New Hampshire | 61% | 11% | 4% |
| New Jersey | 42% | 5% | 1% |
| New Mexico | 82% | 30% | 3% |
| New York | 65% | 8% | 1% |
| North Carolina | 85% | 34% | 5% |
| North Dakota | 62% | 8% | 2% |
| Ohio | 71% | 14% | 4% |
| Oklahoma | 88% | 41% | 4% |
| Oregon | 76% | 26% | 4% |
| Pennsylvania | 79% | 11% | 3% |
| Rhode Island | 82% | 12% | 4% |
| South Carolina | 84% | 38% | 7% |
| South Dakota | 58% | 15% | 4% |
| Tennessee | 79% | 34% | 6% |
| Texas | 94% | 49% | 5% |
| Utah | 69% | 25% | 1% |
| Vermont | 74% | 11% | 2% |
| Virginia | 71% | 17% | 3% |
| Washington | 76% | 27% | 4% |
| West Virginia | 76% | 23% | 6% |
| Wisconsin | 63% | 16% | 3% |
| Wyoming | 47% | 22% | 5% |
| MEDIAN | 76% | 22% | 4% |
| Source: HHS | |||
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