What exactly does it mean when I hear that X number of cases of the disease are in Intensive Care? What triggers that level of care, what is the treatment like at that point, and what are the general outcomes?

I assume you can be in ICU but not yet on a ventilator.

Are hospitals being quicker than normal to put these cases in ICU?

I understood maybe half of what you said

What I think many are wondering is the percentage of patients with COVID-19 that are sent to ICU, that if it was a typical pneumonia or flu case in 2018, would not be in ICU.

Basically from reporting and feedback the impression is patients known for COVID-19 are fast tracked to ICU because of the potential health issues, not the existing ones. So in a pinch, these would not be ICU cases and are there because of added benefits being devoted to COVID-19.

Can a confirmed positive severe COVID-19 case be ICU worthy, while a confirmed negative severe pneumonia case not be ICU worth in the same hospital?

Infection_Ag11 said:

---

Technically, the only thing that defines an ICU is the nurse:patient ratio. Floor units generally have a 4:1 nurse:patient ratio, whereas an ICU is generally 2:1 (sometimes 1:1).

Practically, patients who are in the ICU are generally hemodynamically unstable, profoundly hypoxic, come in with very high risk conditions that will potentially decompensate, recovering from high risk surgery and anyone requiring intubation.

---

A general floor is 4 nurse to 1 patient? Or do you mean 4 patients to 1 nurse?

1 nurse for 4 patients, sorry I just noticed the typo. I'll fix it.