Today I learned that the U.S., with the "best health care system in the world," has 2.77 hospital beds per 1,000 citizens (and notice that's citizens, not residents).
- Spain has 2.97 and Italy 3.18.
- Germany has 8. South Korea has 12.27.
The U.S. rate, of course, is just getting going. We'll see if it stays as low as 2.4%.
I wonder if all of our states are testing the people who die with respiratory-related symptoms to see if they have COVID or not before declaring that rate, and how fast it is being updated. (That I have to wonder about its accuracy makes me sad.)
Running an economically efficient hospital system is not the same thing as running a resilient public health system.
1 comment:
We are indeed in the grips of a public health crisis. I heard this morning that the Federal reserve of ventilators has been moved, a little at a time, to a middleman that forces the states to bid against each other for them. Then I heard that "middleman" is a company owned by Jared Kushner. Whaaaat?
First of all, there should be NO middleman. The ventilators need to go directly to the hospitals.
Secondly, no one should profit from this public health crisis. Human lives are more important.
Finally, Jared Kushner and his in-laws need to step aside and let those with genuine leadership skills and medical knowledge deal with this public health crisis. "May a Pox be on their house!"
Whether or not we have enough hospital beds, sad to say, may have little to do with how the US survives this crisis. I personally think it rests on physical distancing and the leadership of the smart governors.
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