Many cities in the Sunbelt are facing manpower shortages in hospitals and medical clinics as cases of coronavirus mount among the general public, exhausting staff and resources, according to a report by the Washington Post.
Cities from Miami to southern California have experienced stress in their healthcare capacity, with hospitals seeing their ICU beds maxed out. Florida is reporting 100% use of ICU beds, with Texas hitting the 90% mark, according to data compiled by covidactnow.org.
According to the Post, Florida also has more than 9,400 patients hospitalized with COVID; Texas has 8,800.
Other states, including South Carolina, Louisiana and Indiana have reported staffing shortages at hospitals, as healthcare workers struggle to care for the influx of patients.
Louisiana, Florida and South Carolina have filed federal requests for personnel, from doctors to nurses to respiratory therapists to pharmacists. Those resources will be pulled from military and National Guard units, as well as volunteers from civilian civil servants.