‘We need everyone for this’: U.S. hospitals harnessing resources to brace for any spike in coronavirus cases
When the H1N1 flu began spreading a decade ago, U.S. hospitals were flooded with patients. The pandemic, which was declared over in 2010, left nearly 275,000 hospitalized, as health officials fretted whether they would have enough beds, enough medical supplies, or enough protective gear.
Today, with a novel coronavirus spreading, health care facilities in mainland China and Hong Kong have been overwhelmed by a flood of patients and are facing shortages of direly needed space and supplies. Hospitals in the U.S. are doing everything they can to make sure they’re prepared if local spread takes off here.
