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Birmingham Alabama's hospitals are currently overwhelmed[0]. This thing is going to get even uglier quickly as it tears through rural areas that have little to

Birmingham Alabama's hospitals are currently overwhelmed[0]. This thing is going to get even uglier quickly as it tears through rural areas that have little to no nearby healthcare options. And as the people who are out mingling this weekend start to get ill in the next week and start to feel bad enough to need hospitalization in the next two to three weeks we're going to see some scenes just like in NYC with overwhelmed hospitals and morgues being replaced by air conditioned semi trucks (or worse, bodies piling up in the summer heat). It's already happening in some rural areas[1]. The only counties that have no deaths are those with very few people and/or no testing [2]. [0] https://www.businessinsider.com/dire-coronavirus-alabama-icu-no-beds-2020-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/dire-coronavirus-alabama-icu... [1] https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/A-deadly-checkerboard-Covid-19-s-new-surge-15292024.php https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/A-deadly-checkerboard-Co... [2] https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/coronavirus-spread-rural-counties-university-texas-researchers/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/news/coronavirus-spread-rural-c...

odkamkfn 6y ago
I like the slight, vague implication in your post that no testing means no deaths.
rpiguy 6y ago
According to the Alabama department of public health as of 5 hours ago there are only 571 people in ICU. https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/covid19/assets/cov-al-cases-052420.pdf https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/covid19/assets/cov-al-ca... According to CDC data, 81% of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States are people over 65 years old, most with preexisting conditions. If you add in 55-64-year-olds that number jumps to 93%. For those below age 55, preexisting conditions play a significant role, but the death rate is currently around 0.0022%, or one death per 45,000 people in this age range. Below 25 years old the fatality rate of COVID-19 is 0.00008%, or roughly one in 1.25 million. I am sure some hospitals will come close to capacity in some areas due to some case clusters, but Florida, Texas, and Georgia have been largely fine after opening up even in rural areas. I expect over the next two to three weeks we will continue to see drops in deaths.
masonic 6y ago
Opening of BI title: "Alabama hospitals are out of ICU beds" Actuality: the mayor of one city is saying this; nobody actually in medicine or in statewide government is.

odkamkfn 6y ago

I like the slight, vague implication in your post that no testing means no deaths.

rpiguy 6y ago

According to the Alabama department of public health as of 5 hours ago there are only 571 people in ICU. https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/covid19/assets/cov-al-cases-052420.pdf https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/covid19/assets/cov-al-ca... According to CDC data, 81% of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States are people over 65 years old, most with preexisting conditions. If you add in 55-64-year-olds that number jumps to 93%. For those below age 55, preexisting conditions play a significant role, but the death rate is currently around 0.0022%, or one death per 45,000 people in this age range. Below 25 years old the fatality rate of COVID-19 is 0.00008%, or roughly one in 1.25 million. I am sure some hospitals will come close to capacity in some areas due to some case clusters, but Florida, Texas, and Georgia have been largely fine after opening up even in rural areas. I expect over the next two to three weeks we will continue to see drops in deaths.

masonic 6y ago

Opening of BI title: "Alabama hospitals are out of ICU beds" Actuality: the mayor of one city is saying this; nobody actually in medicine or in statewide government is.