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% |
