Virus Hotspots Ramp Up Hospital Capacity to Meet Patient Surge

First responders evacuate sick crew members from two cruise ships at the Port of Miami after the Florida Department of Health reported more than 2,300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Miami, Florida, on March 26, 2020. Carlos Barria/Reuters

Hospitals around the country are getting ready to handle more patients as the COVID-19 outbreak surges. While more beds are being added and architectural layouts are being changed to add more facilities to the existing ones, many temporary hospital beds are being quickly created elsewhere.

Local governments and hospital administrations are particularly rushing to find beds for a coming flood of patients, opening older closed hospitals, turning single rooms into doubles and re-purposing other medical buildings.