Projections See Potential for Overwhelmed KC Hospitals
The Harvard Global Health Institute has released an analysis that offers, for the first time, a look at which areas of the nation–including the Kansas City market–would see hospital facilities stretched beyond capacity because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The public-interest Web site Pro Publica has posted regional maps under nine separate scenarios envisioned by Harvard’s researchers: spread of the virus among 20, 40 or 60 percent of the population, measured in six, 12- and 18-month time frames.
At the lower infection rates and longer development times, Kansas City’s hospitals will have sufficient capacity to treat the numbers of patients projected. At higher infection levels, and within a shorter time frame, the system here would be overwhelmed, much as health-care providers in New York are at the moment.
Pro Publica’s assessment of the Harvard report is available here:
