Over the past week, Virginia recorded its 7,000th COVID-19 death and passed its 1 millionth person vaccinated, while the number of new cases and fatalities continue to decline. At the same time, however, some of the state’s intensive care units are full, according to federal data collected at the beginning of the month.
In a snapshot from Jan. 29 to Feb. 4, Richmond’s Bon Secours St. Francis Medical Center’s ICU was 98% full, and VCU Medical Center was 99% full. Chesapeake General Hospital and Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital had no available beds, and Sentara Obici Hospital in Suffolk was at 107% occupancy.
The state as a whole has 77% of its ICU beds occupied, a percentage that decreases to 50% when including surge beds, according to the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association’s Feb. 15 update. According to a report by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, it’s not just that more people are sick with the virus, but hospitals are reducing the number of staffed ICU beds, including at VCU and Sentara Obici, due to staff shortages.
