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Comment by fullmoon | Hacker News Reader

But the diseas isn’t Covid, but RSV.

- https://eu.oklahoman.com/story/news/2021/07/30/oklahoma-chil... - https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nrevss/rsv/region.html#sout...

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Looking at that data, RSV looks to me like a normal yearly peak, albeit earlier than usual. COVID is over 100x more cases.

I am not sure what point you are trying to make here - are you in agreement with CryptoPunk that fear is the real problem, as if the shortage of ICU beds was like a run on toilet paper?

As cameldrv points out, an increase in RSV of this magnitude is normally well-handled, only the timing is different. As both the original article and the one you link to make clear, the problem at this time is staffing, and the staffing problem is being driven by Covid.

I'm not quite sure why you don't understand his point. He's arguing that the shortage of beds is due to a spike in RSV hospitalizations, not covid hospitalizations. You can dispute that claim but it's not clear why you are unsure what his argument is.

That is true, but it seems beside the point as a response to my original reply to you, while its initial "But..." suggests that it is intended to invalidate it somehow. Even if Fullmoon were correct in claiming that Covid is not behind the problem of the ICU bed shortages, it would not alter the fact that this is a problem caused by actual disease, not the fear of it.

IIUC what s/he's saying is that there's not a shortage of beds per se but staffed beds. And the staffing shortage is because a lot of staff has been diverted to covid cases.

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