What You Should Know:
– Nationwide, the seven-day moving average for COVID-19
cases is up 148% from June 7th to July 7th. In many states across the country,
the “curve” never flattened. Since June there hasn’t been a flattening effect,
but rather a significant spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.
– States hit hardest with new waves of COVID-19 cases
like Arizona, California, Texas and Florida have the highest percentage of
hospital beds occupied by patients with COVID-19. If there are too many total
cases in a short period of time, it can overwhelm health care capacity to treat
people during a pandemic.
– Nationwide, there is an average of 2.96 physicians and
2.4 hospital beds per 1,000 people.
Coronavirus cases continue to rise across the United States and have the potential to overwhelm our healthcare system, by limiting the number of available hospital beds, according to QuoteWizard’s recent report. Nationwide, the seven-day moving average for COVID-19 cases is up 148% from June 7th to July 7th. In many states across the country, the “curve” never flattened. Since June there hasn’t been a flattening effect, but rather a significant spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.
Report Background/Methodology
The findings are based on Kaiser Family Foundation data on
hospital beds and physicians per 1,000 people. Associated with hospital
preparedness, QuoteWizard updated data from the CDC that shows the percentage
of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients (as of July 7, 2020). The data is
paired with New York Times’ seven-day moving average of new COVID-19 cases from
June to July to reflect the spikes in new cases experienced over the last
month. The analysis is intended to show where cases are spiking; there’s a
correlation between hospital capacity and how prepared states’ hospital systems
were before the pandemic.
Additional key findings include:
States hit hardest with new waves of COVID-19 cases like
Arizona, California, Texas and Florida have the highest percentage of hospital
beds occupied by patients with COVID-19. If there are too many total cases in a
short period of time, it can overwhelm health care capacity to treat people
during a pandemic.
Arizona, California, Texas and Florida were states that
already rated poorly for hospital capacity prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Given already low capacity in states combined with the easing of stay-at-home
orders is leading these states hospitals towards overcapacity.
Florida ranks 22nd-least prepared based on physicians and
hospital bed capacity. Florida has seen a 736% weekly moving average increase
of COVID-19 cases over the last month. This spike in cases amounts to 16.30% of
hospital beds occupied strictly by COVID-19 patients.
Twenty-three states saw a decrease in hospital beds per
1,000 people from 2014 to 2018. Many of these states seeing increases in cases
in June and July are experiencing cases growing two to four times more than
previous periods.
Nationwide, there is an average of 2.96 physicians and 2.4
hospital beds per 1,000 people. The capacity of the health care system to
handle COVID-19 is dependent on how many people have access to critical health
care components like hospital beds, nurses, doctors and equipment like
ventilators.
Ranking: State-by-State Ranking of Growth in 7 Day Moving
Average for COVID-19 Cases from June to July
| Rank | State | Physicians per 1,000 people | Beds per 1,000 people | % COVID-19 cases occupying beds | Growth in seven-day moving average from June to July |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Utah |
2.11 |
1.82 |
4.80% |
70% |
|
2 |
Idaho |
1.69 |
1.98 |
3.30% |
716% |
|
3 |
Nevada |
2.00 |
2.00 |
13.70% |
405% |
|
4 |
Arizona |
2.45 |
1.96 |
28.40% |
269% |
|
5 |
Hawaii |
2.58 |
1.86 |
0.70% |
633% |
|
6 |
Colorado |
2.52 |
1.92 |
2.60% |
24% |
|
7 |
Texas |
2.23 |
2.3 |
16.00% |
378% |
|
8 |
Oregon |
2.88 |
1.66 |
3.20% |
243% |
|
9 |
New Mexico |
2.78 |
1.82 |
6.00% |
26% |
|
10 |
Washington |
2.89 |
1.70 |
3.60% |
102% |
|
11 |
California |
2.86 |
1.82 |
10.80% |
194% |
|
12 |
Georgia |
2.38 |
2.40 |
14.50% |
280% |
|
13 |
Alaska |
2.60 |
2.26 |
1.90% |
147% |
|
14 |
South Carolina |
2.50 |
2.50 |
13.60% |
352% |
|
15 |
North Carolina |
2.71 |
2.14 |
5.30% |
60% |
|
16 |
Virginia |
2.73 |
2.14 |
3.40% |
-35% |
|
17 |
Oklahoma |
2.39 |
2.84 |
4.60% |
438% |
|
18 |
Wyoming |
2.03 |
3.24 |
2.40% |
433% |
|
19 |
Indiana |
2.50 |
2.62 |
4.60% |
8% |
|
20 |
Wisconsin |
3.04 |
2.14 |
2.70% |
62% |
|
21 |
New Hampshire |
3.12 |
2.10 |
2.40% |
-68% |
|
22 |
Florida |
2.63 |
2.62 |
16.30% |
736% |
|
23 |
Montana |
2.18 |
3.52 |
2.50% |
1175% |
|
24 |
Arkansas |
2.37 |
3.18 |
6.90% |
72% |
|
25 |
Alabama |
2.49 |
3.08 |
12.40% |
204% |
|
26 |
Vermont |
3.75 |
1.98 |
0.80% |
-42% |
|
27 |
Mississippi |
2.22 |
4.08 |
11.30% |
180% |
|
28 |
Maryland |
4.08 |
1.94 |
8.10% |
-45% |
|
29 |
Delaware |
3.23 |
2.20 |
3.40% |
113% |
|
30 |
South Dakota |
2.31 |
4.76 |
3.60% |
-11% |
|
31 |
Iowa |
2.70 |
3.04 |
2.70% |
38% |
|
32 |
Connecticut |
4.38 |
2.06 |
2.90% |
-71% |
|
33 |
Tennessee |
2.78 |
2.98 |
5.10% |
147% |
|
34 |
Rhode Island |
4.71 |
2.10 |
3.20% |
-33% |
|
35 |
New Jersey |
3.43 |
2.34 |
4.40% |
-40% |
|
36 |
Kentucky |
2.67 |
3.20 |
6.00% |
31% |
|
37 |
Minnesota |
3.22 |
2.58 |
3.80% |
-7% |
|
38 |
Illinois |
3.42 |
2.50 |
4.20% |
-27% |
|
39 |
Kansas |
2.72 |
3.38 |
2.80% |
276% |
|
40 |
North Dakota |
2.64 |
4.28 |
1.90% |
10% |
|
41 |
Maine |
3.51 |
2.54 |
1.80% |
-23% |
|
42 |
Michigan |
3.89 |
2.50 |
2.80% |
37% |
|
43 |
Massachusetts |
5.25 |
2.32 |
3.80% |
-53% |
|
44 |
Louisiana |
2.97 |
3.16 |
7.80% |
250% |
|
45 |
Ohio |
3.63 |
2.88 |
4.10% |
140% |
|
46 |
Missouri |
3.30 |
3.08 |
4.30% |
95% |
|
47 |
Nebraska |
2.91 |
3.54 |
3.00% |
-34% |
|
48 |
Pennsylvania |
3.99 |
2.92 |
3.40% |
26% |
|
49 |
New York |
4.60 |
2.7 |
4.00% |
-34% |
|
50 |
West Virginia |
3.17 |
3.74 |
2.50% |
353% |
