It is a play on words, simple math, and the assertion you are stupid.  I’m just a lowly aid who changes beds and sterilizes equipment yet I could easily get laid off right now because, well…I am not needed.

There are a number of different designations for hospital beds.  The hospitals are confusing the types to make it sound as though we are overwhelmed by Covid-19.  The main trick is pulled when describing “staffed” beds with “unstaffed” beds.

A staffed bed refers to an available bed which has an available nurse (or Dr.) should it be needed or as needed.  Unstaffed beds are all the extra spaces and beds available that the hospital doesn’t have staff for simply because they are not needed and are counted as a surplus.  Should there be a real pandemic these beds would be made available with the hiring of new staff and would then become “staffed” beds.

The “capacity” has been switched from referring to all hospital beds at a hospital to only “staffed” beds.  Get it?  They aren’t counting unstaffed beds in the total.

Right now we are down from last years staffed beds because we don’t have the need for more staff as there are less people in the hospital.

The point, is that in the news when they say that all the hospitals are at capacity, it just means they are not overstaffed.