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Comment by macintux | Hacker News Reader

The personal risk of getting seriously sick is very low. The risk of spreading it to others is very high. And the hospitals are overwhelmed.

Sometimes your personal risk is not the end of the story.

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And once hospitals are overwhelmed, your risk of dying of any cause increases regardless of your age, location or health.

Is that a major concern? Around me, the hospitals are at capacity for covid patients, but have reserved space for accidents, pregnancies, and other expected needs.

At some point you run out of caregivers.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/12/22/9489081...

Probably because they are lying worker/refuse to hire more:

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/financial-fall...

The cited reason: 'Lower patient volumes, canceled elective procedures and higher expenses tied to the pandemic have created a cash crunch for hospitals'

I wonder if the lockdown/stay at home order has something to do with it...

With the highest cost of idle hospital beds being in the intensive care (ICU), people talk as if whole sections of hospitals sit empty waiting for the day when they are needed. Occupancy in ICUs typically are close to full. If they are not the hospital closes more beds so that they remain near capacity.

>The risk of spreading it to others is very high

So? The risk of that other person become seriously sick remain the same.

>And the hospitals are overwhelmed

If the hospital are overwhelmed, keep in mind that most hospital are not overwhelmed, then yes it need to be fixed, nobody said to do nothing, some that can be done:

- increase capacity

- redistribute patient to less busy hospital

- better treatment method

- don't test everyone for covid

- don't admit people with mild symptom

- etc

I believe all those things are already being done. Increasing capacity is the hard one, making new doctors and nurses takes several years.

Well you would think so but lot of hospital freeze hiring/laying of worker during this pandemic.

I'm not taking about making new doctor/nurses, I'm talking about hiring more.

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