Percentage of ICU beds varies widely. Minnesota, for instance, a state in the US, has about 500 ICU beds [1] and over 10,000 hospital beds total [2]. ICU beds a

Percentage of ICU beds varies widely. Minnesota, for instance, a state in the US, has about 500 ICU beds [1] and over 10,000 hospital beds total [2]. ICU beds are already heavily used and sometimes there simply are not enough, before COVID-19 has even shown up. Average inpatient stays right now are 4.21 days in Minnesota [3]; I can't find a reliable number for length of stay for COVID-19 patients, but it is longer. There is plenty of evidence that in Italy COVID-19 has overwhelmed ICU beds. They are trying to transport people to ventilators via helicopter. We do have at least twice the ICU bed capacity in the US (compare info from [4], [5]). But many other people need these ICU beds -- it's not like other illnesses will just stop for our convenience. [1] https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/03/08/talking-points-president-of-minnesota-hospital-association-calls-on-state-legislators-to-approve-covid-19-funding/ https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/03/08/talking-points-pre... [2] https://www.ahd.com/states/hospital_MN.html https://www.ahd.com/states/hospital_MN.html [3] https://www.mnhospitals.org/mn-hospitals/quick-facts https://www.mnhospitals.org/mn-hospitals/quick-facts [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4351597/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4351597/ [5] https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00134-012-2627-8 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00134-012-2627-8 Edited to add: remember, included in most totals of ICU beds are neonatal and pediatric ICU beds, which won't help much with COVID-19.