There is a major disconnect regarding the implications of hospitals handling COVID surges. Even if they aren't at 100% capacity, it takes a lot of effort to care for these patients. While the actual medical interventions are straightforward, there are extra calls to family (who can't visit) and research staff to enroll in clinical trials, extra time donning/doffing PPE, delays/limitations in services offered to lessen exposure risk to ancillary personnel, and barriers to hospital discharge which don't exist for patients without highly contagious infections.
As a result, providers will become overwhelmed well before all the beds are used up. And this ignores the calculus of staffing and provision of ventilators, ECMO, etc. for the sickest patients. At least we have enough PPE ATM, though it's non inconceivable supplies could run short if surges are prolonged.
It's infuriating that people think these problems are solved by isolating at risk groups and opening up a few field hospitals. It's far more complex, especially when you consider the logistics of transferring patients from regional hotspots when capacity is exceeded or a higher level of care is necessary.
Hospitalization rates remain between 10-20% for symptomatic adults with COVID-19. While risk of death is relatively low for those without comorbidities/non-elderly, most of the above factors complicating care still apply to anyone requiring a hospital stay. We don't need to get to the point patients are denied ventilators or refrigerated trucks are summoned to stack the bodies to exhaust healthcare workers and place non-covid patients at risk.
People please, please stop fixating on death rates, how many people are sick in nursing homes, mixed messages from public health officials, and all the political BS, and try and do your best not to add to the problem - wash your hands and pay attention to cough hygiene, wear a mask in public, be mindful of spacing and minimize group interactions. It's not convenient or pleasant, but society can still function pretty well with all these measures in place, and we can avoid blowing up our healthcare system.
FTR, I say all this as a healthcare provider in one of the states handling covid the best. But it's easy to see how tenuous the situation is and learn from what's been done around the world to reign in the pandemic.