Hospital ICU space dries up amid COVID-19 in Minnesota

Nov 05, 20200

David Joles – Star Tribune file count

Health care workers got a COVID-19 patient situated after proning the patient, which helps blood flow and breathing, in an ICU at Bethesda Hospital in St. Paul in May.

Only nine intensive care beds were available in the Twin Cities Wednesday morning amid a surge in COVID-19 that is sending more Minnesotans into hospitals.

Metro ICU bed space grew scarce due to nurses and other caregivers who were unavailable because of their own infections or viral exposures that required quarantines. Shortages have occurred in central Minnesota and other parts of the state.

"We're at a red alert for ICU beds," said Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy. "It's bad."

https://www.startribune.com/twin-cities-icu-space-at-red-alert-as-virus-cases-hit-record/572970942/