Fewer than 3% of ICU beds are available statewide as COVID-19 infections, staff shortages crunch hospitals

Sophie Carson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

December 9, 2021 at 5:26 PM·3 min read

Wisconsin hospitals are facing staffing shortages and a severe lack of beds in intensive care units as COVID-19 infections rise.

Fewer than 3% of ICU beds were available statewide Thursday, with several multicounty regions reporting just one or two beds available.

In five of Wisconsin's seven regions — as designated by the Healthcare Emergency Readiness Coalition — three or fewer ICU beds were available.

The southeast and south-central regions, home to Milwaukee and Dane counties, were the only counties with more than a handful of open ICU beds, and even then, only about 3% to 4% are available.

The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Wisconsin has been on a steep rise since the start of November. On Thursday, more than 1,600 people were receiving hospital care for COVID-19, a 76% increase since Nov. 1.

Gov. Tony Evers' administration on Wednesday announced it is asking the federal government for five medical reserve teams of 20 workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to send into health care facilities, and 60 National Guard nurses are being trained to work in state-run mental health institutions.

At just over 3,000, the seven-day average for cases was down somewhat from a recent peak of about 3,800 recorded five days prior, but the metric remains at levels last seen in December 2020.

The seven-day death average on Thursday was 20. A month ago, there were an average of 13 daily deaths from COVID-19.

Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin: See the latest data on cases, deaths and administered doses

Wisconsin vaccine FAQ: Who's eligible, where to get it and what's next

Latest COVID-19 numbers

New cases reported: 3,987
New deaths reported: 34
Number hospitalized: 1,607 (intensive care: 428); up 578 patients from a month ago
Seven-day average of daily cases: 3,024 (up 696 cases from one month ago)
Seven-day average of daily deaths: 20 (up seven deaths from one month ago)
Seven-day average positivity rate — as a share of all tests given: 10.8%
Total cases since the start of pandemic: 905,850
Total deaths: 9,298

Latest vaccine numbers

Total doses administered: 7,926,050
Daily doses administered: 20,710
Seven-day average of daily doses: 24,530
Total booster doses administered: 1,224,201
Daily booster doses administered: 17,098
Seven-day average of daily booster doses: 20,148
Residents who have received one dose: 3,452,344 (59.3% of the population)
Residents who are fully vaccinated: 3,280,807 (56.3% of the population)
Adults who have received one dose: 3,222,428 (70.7% of the 18+ population)
Adults who are fully vaccinated: 3,065,751 (67.3% of the 18+ population)
Residents ages 12 to 15 with at least one dose: 149,467 (50.4% of age group)
Residents ages 16 to 17 with at least one dose: 80,242 (54.4% of age group)
Residents ages 18 to 24 with at least one dose: 301,464 (55.2% of age group)
Residents ages 25 to 34 with at least one dose: 444,945 (60% of age group)
Residents ages 35 to 44 with at least one dose: 477,632 (67% of age group)
Residents ages 45 to 54 with at least one dose: 482,850 (67.5% of age group)
Residents ages 55 to 64 with at least one dose: 624,018 (75.8% of age group)
Residents 65 and older with at least one dose: 891,519 (87.6% of age group)

Variant cases of concern

The state Department of Health Services, the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene and other laboratory partners regularly perform whole genome sequencing on a portion of positive tests. The numbers below do not represent the total number of variant cases.

Cases of the alpha (B.1.1.7) variant: 3,742
Cases of the beta (B.1.351) variant: 77
Cases of the delta (B.1.617.2) variant: 18,706
Cases of the gamma (P.1) variant: 306

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin COVID-19: Hospital ICU beds, staff in short supply

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