5 States Where COVID-19 Is Filling the Most ICU Beds

Parts of the United States already appear to be the middle of a dangerous new surge in severe COVID-19 cases. Whatever the omicron variant of the virus that's causing the pandemic does, the delta variant and other more established variants are making your clients sick now. The government's latest pandemic Community Profile Report shows that the number of new cases recorded in the seven-day period ending Wednesday has increased to 829,608, up 37% from the total the week before. In other words, roughly 1 in every 400 Americans tested positive for a new case of COVID-19 last week. The number of deaths increased to 7,829, from 5,979 the week before, and the death rate increased to 2.4 per 100,000 people, from 1.8 per 100,000 people. One sign that mortality rates, and the number of claims flowing into life insurers and life reinsurers, could remain elevated is that reports are emerging of physicians in many states struggling to find hospital intensive care unit beds for any patients, including COVID-19 patients, who need ICU-level care. When the pandemic fills ICU beds, that means that COVID-19 could drive up the death rate from causes such as strokes, cancer, heart attacks and accidents, by keeping people with those conditions from getting suitable care. For a look at the five states with the worst COVID-19 adult ICU bed occupancy percentages, based on HHS hospital pandemic impact data, as of Dec. 1, see the slideshow above. For COVID-19 ICU bed occupancy rates for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, for the first Wednesday of the month in November 2020, February 2021 and this month, see the chart below.

ICU Capacity

The United States has about 6,100 hospitals with ICU units. The pandemic has exacerbated existing nursing shortages in many areas, and a lack of the kinds of nurses who can care for COVID-19 patients has forced hospitals to keep some of their ICU beds empty. Physicians and nurses have reported seeing some hospitals in hard-hit areas leaving 20% or more of their ICU beds empty due to staffing problems. Pandemic impact statistics compiled by a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services team show that the number of hospital ICU beds included in the HHS peaked at around 91,000, in mid-January 2021, and has now fallen about 8% from that peak, to less than 84,000.

Patients With Confirmed and Suspected COVID-19 in ICU Beds

	Nov. 4, 2020		Feb. 3, 2021		Dec. 1, 2021
	Number	% of Adult Staffed Beds Filled	Number	% of Adult Staffed Beds Filled	Number	% of Adult Staffed Beds Filled
Alabama	321	20.9%	603	36.6%	133	8.5%
Alaska	25	19.8%	14	11.2%	22	17.6%
Arizona	275	13.8%	844	35.7%	594	27.0%
Arkansas	229	21.2%	234	22.2%	166	17.5%
California	907	12.1%	3,711	43.5%	907	12.8%
Colorado	302	22.9%	165	12.2%	508	38.5%
Connecticut	82	7.6%	184	17.1%	87	8.5%
Delaware	30	16.9%	37	19.1%	29	14.9%
District of Columbia	40	10.2%	67	19.1%	25	7.4%
Florida	683	10.6%	1,347	20.8%	262	4.1%
Georgia	486	17.7%	1,109	37.5%	272	10.3%
Hawaii	19	7.8%	27	12.1%	11	5.3%
Idaho	80	25.8%	43	14.2%	92	31.5%
Illinois	794	20.5%	496	14.0%	509	15.6%
Indiana	498	22.6%	359	16.2%	635	27.3%
Iowa	194	27.9%	77	11.5%	167	27.2%
Kansas	175	21.6%	116	13.7%	160	19.5%
Kentucky	251	15.9%	329	17.9%	262	18.3%
Louisiana	200	10.5%	344	18.3%	80	5.3%
Maine	17	5.1%	58	16.9%	105	30.1%
Maryland	188	14.7%	388	28.1%	207	15.6%
Massachusetts	141	7.2%	348	23.3%	206	15.8%
Michigan	481	18.9%	316	11.9%	940	36.9%
Minnesota	254	24.1%	96	10.5%	361	36.6%
Mississippi	172	22.4%	277	31.8%	58	7.3%
Missouri	509	22.5%	410	22.1%	396	21.4%
Montana	82	41.8%	23	10.5%	67	29.4%
Nebraska	183	29.2%	85	15.0%	151	30.8%
Nevada	159	18.6%	243	26.6%	151	18.4%
New Hampshire	18	6.4%	50	17.7%	90	39.1%
New Jersey	226	10.2%	524	17.8%	199	6.8%
New Mexico	160	39.2%	142	29.7%	202	42.9%
New York	332	5.7%	1,570	27.8%	630	12.6%
North Carolina	362	14.7%	622	24.4%	336	14.8%
North Dakota	64	46.7%	21	10.1%	67	32.1%
Ohio	543	13.9%	651	15.6%	1,008	25.6%
Oklahoma	315	26.6%	350	31.7%	182	18.1%
Oregon	63	8.0%	77	9.6%	93	11.8%
Pennsylvania	496	13.1%	745	19.1%	875	23.1%
Puerto Rico	60	8.8%	54	7.7%	4	0.6%
Rhode Island	22	12.6%	43	26.1%	18	13.8%
South Carolina	219	16.8%	356	29.1%	129	9.9%
South Dakota	92	43.6%	23	9.5%	61	24.2%
Tennessee	480	19.5%	431	17.8%	274	11.2%
Texas	1,861	26.0%	3,095	40.1%	998	15.3%
Utah	149	23.3%	136	21.7%	192	30.9%
Vermont	6	9.0%	12	11.3%	23	24.5%
Virginia	241	11.6%	450	22.3%	249	12.9%
Washington	131	11.4%	175	13.1%	246	19.9%
West Virginia	95	13.5%	125	17.5%	165	25.2%
Wisconsin	396	24.8%	186	11.5%	417	27.1%
Wyoming	33	26.0%	9	6.3%	21	15.1%
TOTAL	14,141		22,197		14,042
MEDIAN		17.3%		17.8%		17.9%

Pictured: An intubated patient inside a negative pressure room in the COVIID-19 ICU at Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, Mo., in August 2021. (Photo: Angus Mordant/Bloomberg)