Here's why we can't just add more ICU beds to handle the COVID-19 pandemic: science reporter

The Atlantic's science writer, Ed Yong, took to social media on Sunday night to respond to frequent comments on his pieces that a solution to cities and states reaching maximum capacity on ICU beds is simply to add more. Build a pop-up hospital. Add more rooms.

Sadly, adding a rolling bed to a hospital only means there's a physical bed. When a hospital is talking about space in their hospital or ICU, they're not talking about physical space. Even with triage tents in the city parks or athletic fields, it doesn't mean there are suddenly solutions to the hospital capacity problem.

Capacity comes from staff, not from the furniture. Without the doctors and nurses available to care for sick or dying patients, states and cities are at the mercy of overflowing hospitals.

Due to the highly contagious nature of the coronavirus, when doctors, nurses, EMTs and other healthcare professionals are exposed to the virus, they end up in quarantine just like other Americans. If they get the virus, they're out until they test negative again. So, when personal protective equipment is held back or nurses must reuse N95 masks over and over again, they're running the risk of exposure.

"You can't mass-manufacture nurses," Yong tweeted.

When Dr. Anthony Fauci told Americans that we needed to "flatten the curve," he was talking about what Americans are facing now. With overrun hospitals, people won't be able to get care when they need it, whether it's for COVID-19 or appendicitis.