Alabama, which has been hit hard by the recent surge in coronavirus cases, is running out of available intensive care unit beds.
Hospitals in the more densely populated areas of Montgomery, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham have begun transferring critical care patients from one hospital to another due to a shortage of beds, according to a memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency obtained by ABC News .
Don Williamson, a physician with the Alabama Hospital Associations, told ABC affiliate WBMA that 82 percent of the state’s ICU beds were taken, and there are only 289 beds left statewide.
On Tuesday, Alabama broke its record for new daily COVID-19 cases with 1,100. Overall, the state has nearly 32,800 confirmed cases of the disease.
More than a dozen states have broken their record for new daily cases in the past week, including Missouri, Florida, Texas, California, Oklahoma, Georgia, and Nevada.
As a result, the United States on Thursday broke its record for most new coronavirus cases reported in one day with 40,401 new cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
More than 2.4 million people in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins data.
.
