COVID-19 Surge Puts U.S. Hospitals Under Strain

COVID-19 cases are surging across the U.S., and hospitals in some states are nearing capacity. More than 44,000 coronavirus patients were in hospitals on Tuesday — that's the highest number since August 15.

Reuters reports that COVID hospitalizations are up by 10 percent compared to last week in 36 states. Meanwhile, 12 states set records this week for hospitalized patients, including a handful of 2020 battlegrounds like Iowa, Minnesota and Ohio.

In Wisconsin, which broke single-day records for cases and deaths on Tuesday, state officials are urging residents to wear masks, limit social gatherings and quarantine whenever possible.

"Hospital capacity is very high and, even more worrisome, about 30% of those people who require hospitalization are requiring ICU-level care. It's just a really bad situation in Wisconsin, right now," said Dr. Jeff Pothof, an ER doctor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hospital.

On Wednesday, the U.S. reported more than 1,000 deaths, putting the total number of virus-related fatalities over 227,000.

For Newsy, I'm Adam Elrashidi.