As of April 2020 there were not enough ventilators, negative pressure rooms and ICU beds.

Judge as of 18 April 2020, for the United States (the context of the 'It's Time to Build' essay). True: contemporaneous evidence (government assessments, hospital association or academic capacity studies, credible news reports from March–April 2020) shows real or projected shortages of all three: ventilators, negative pressure/airborne-isolation rooms, and ICU beds. Mostly true: shortages are documented for two of the three plus widespread projected shortfalls for the third, or shortages were real in hotspots (e.g., New York) and widely projected nationally. Mixed: shortages documented for only one or two items, or capacity was shown to be broadly adequate nationally while shortfalls were local. Mostly false: evidence shows national capacity was largely sufficient in April 2020 and shortages were isolated, overstating a narrow situation. False: evidence shows no meaningful shortage of any of the three at the time.

Set before the research began.

1. E1 Hospital Experiences Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a National Pulse Survey March 24-27, 2020 (OEI-06-20-00300; 04/20) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General · April 2020

   “Many hospitals reported concerns that they would not have enough ventilators if faced with a surge of COVID-19 patients.”

2. E2 Hospital Experiences Responding to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Results of a National Pulse Survey March 24-27, 2020 (OEI-06-20-00300; 04/20) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General · April 2020

   “When patient stays were extended while awaiting test results, this strained bed availability, personal protective equipment (PPE) supplies, and staffing.”

3. E3 Ventilator Ethics: National Supply Is Days Away From Peak Use Courthouse News Service · 8 April 2020

   “As for the strategic national stockpile, the Federal Emergency Management Agency shared documents with Congress last week indicating that just 9,500 ventilators were left. Those stocks are now totally depleted, the Health and Human Services Department confirmed Monday to the House Oversight Committee, as demand continues to rise.”

4. E4 Mass. Delegation Urges FEMA to Immediately Release Enough Ventilators from the Strategic National Stockpile to Massachusetts as Hospitals Prepare for Surge Office of Senator Elizabeth Warren (press release) · 6 April 2020

   “The Trump Administration currently has over 9,000 total ventilators available in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) – and over the past week has distributed these lifesaving machines to five other states.”

The HHS OIG national pulse survey from March 24–27, 2020 reports that many hospitals feared they would not have enough ventilators in a COVID-19 surge (E1). Contemporaneous reports say the Strategic National Stockpile had about 9,000–9,500 ventilators in early April and that HHS confirmed it was depleted (E3, E4). That documents a ventilator shortage. For beds, E2 says only that general bed availability was strained when stays were extended; it gives no ICU-specific figures, and no evidence addresses negative pressure or airborne-isolation rooms. Under the criteria, shortages are documented for only one or two of the three items, which fits 'mixed'.