Former Medicare official warns against overconfidence in US hospital capacity

Communities in the United States may be getting overconfident in their ability to accommodate Covid-19 patients in hospitals, the former acting head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has warned.

Intensive care units need higher capacity than many people realize, former CMS acting director Andy Slavitt told CNN on Thursday night.

Slavitt said the economy could reopen safely — but only if there is enough testing to address hot spots.

“Nothing magic happened while we were staying home,” Slavitt says. “It’s not like the virus got less contagious or less deadly.”

CNN