Hospitals brace for new COVID-19 surge

(NBC News) — Hospitals across the country are bracing for a surge of new COVID-19 cases in the wake of holiday travel.

“Unfortunately, we’re going to be seeing a situation of rationing, of trying to make difficult decisions about who gets what care across the country,” warns epidemiologist Dr. Celine Gounder Gounder, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 taskforce.

December was the most infectious and deadly month in the United States since the beginning of the pandemic, and just days into January the situation is dire.

Intensive Care Units are at capacity, and ambulances in cities like Los Angeles and Memphis are lining up for up to eight hours to off-load patients.

“There are finite resources at the end of the day,” says Alvin Benson, director of Tennessee’s Shelby County Fire Department.  ‘There are only so many emergency rooms there are only so many ICU beds, only so many ambulances.”

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