This is all just a matter of timing. Doubling time for the spread seems to be around 5 days. To demonstrate the numbers: Time 0 - 5,000 peak cases needing ICU

This is all just a matter of timing. Doubling time for the spread seems to be around 5 days. To demonstrate the numbers: Time 0 - 5,000 peak cases needing ICU 5 days later - 10,000 10 days - 20,000 15 days - 40,000 In an area that has let's say 5,000 ICU beds, those 15 days are the difference between having just enough beds+ventilators, or having only enough beds+ventilators for 1 in 8 critically ill patients. Imagine a photo of a hospital dealing with situation 0 vs situation 15 days later. Yikes.