<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Doctors in Italy are begging the United States to start preparing for a massive increase in COVID-19 infections.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Any substantial increase in the number of critically ill patients would rapidly exceed total ICU capacity, without even considering other critical admissions, such as for trauma, stroke, and other emergencies,” wrote a group of doctors from Milan. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The United States must dramatically increase COVID-19 testing, create facilities reserved for the treatment of infected patients, and double down on communicating the risks to the American people. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Any hospital that is not part of an emergency network should create or join one, added the doctors, and strict enforcement of community and individual quarantines is vital. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“In practice, the healthcare system cannot sustain an uncontrolled outbreak and stronger containment measures are now the only realistic option to avoid the total collapse of the ICU system.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">As reported this week, a lack of personal protective gear in Italy’s hospitals has resulted in the infection of roughly 1,700 healthcare workers. Some have already died. <b>To date, Italy has reported 35,713 cases and 2,978 deaths. </b></span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">While the Trump Administration has implemented several strategies to help shield industries, businesses, and individuals from the economic fallout, medical preparation is another story. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">Writing in the <i>Wall Street Journal</i>, Dr. Luciana Borio, former director for medical and biodefense preparedness policy at the National Security Council, and Scott Gottlieb, former commissioner of the FDA, outlined several steps American hospitals and policymakers can take now to increase America’s capacity to deal with the crisis: </span></p>
<ul>
<li><span class="s1">Hospitals should be reserved for patients with severe cases of the virus and should not admit those with mild symptoms.</span></li>
<li><span class="s1">Patients with mild symptoms should stay isolated at home.</span></li>
<li><span class="s1">The nation should expand telemedicine and create satellite testing clinics away from hospitals. </span></li>
<li><span class="s1">The federal government should allow physicians to practice medicine in states where they are not licensed and waive restrictions that require physicians to be on-site for physician assistants to practice. </span></li>
<li><span class="s1">Elective procedures should be postponed in order to free up hospitals from routine medical care. </span></li>
<li><span class="s1">Hospitals should immediately implement disaster plans to create more space for patients. </span></li>
</ul>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Experts agree that US cities are grossly unprepared for the projected number of cases. </b>Take New York, which could need up to 37,200 ICU beds at the projected peak of infections. The state currency has 3,200 ICU beds, many of which are occupied by very ill patients. </span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">America as a whole has roughly 64,000 ICU beds and 100,000 ventilators, most of which are already in use.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The only way to increase bed capacity quickly may be to utilize the military to build field hospitals; New York Andrew Cuomo has already suggested this step.</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">“The Italian healthcare system has largely collapsed through a surge in critical cases,” continues Borio. “The biggest risk for the US may be that multiple cities have been seeded at once. Italy and China proved that the only way to save lives is to make sure the medical system can keep pace with the need for critical care. There is still a window to prepare.”</span></p>
<p class="p1"><span class="s1"><i>As it stands, New York City and Seattle are the cities most at risk for an outbreak. </i></span></p>