by Guy Page
27% of Vermont inpatient hospital beds and 30% of ICU beds are empty today, U.S. Health and Human Services Hospital Utiliization dashboard data show.
That’s fewer vacancies than January 4, when 35% of beds were empty and 33% of ICU beds were empty. Todays’ stats show an increase in Covid use of ICU beds, from 14 on Jan. 4 to 19 today.
Vermont Daily Chronicle will track this data on a daily basis (as available) because inpatient and ICU bed usage for Covid-19 is being watched by state officials and lawmakers as they make big decisions like imposing a statewide mask mandate and continuing a Zoom legislature beyond January 18. The fast spreading Omicron variant is expected to defy the state’s ability to track the number of cases statewide. However, it may not send as many people to the hospital as earlier variants.
| Vermont Covid-19 Hospitalizations Day by Day | ||||||
| U.S. Health & Human Services Dashboard | ||||||
| Date | Inpatient beds in use (all uses) | % beds empty | Inpatient beds in use for Covid-19 | ICU beds in use – all uses | % ICU beds empty | ICU beds in use for Covid-19 |
| Jan. 4 | 797 (65% of total beds) | 35% | 81 (7%) | 68 (67%) | 33% | 14 (14%) |
| Jan. 8 | 901 (73% of total) | 27% | 95 (8%) | 70 (70%) | 30% | 15 (15%) |
| Jan. 10 | 896 (73%) | 27% | 89 (7%) | 70 (72%) | 30% | 19 (22%) |