New York hospital doctor prepares for the worst

With the rapid rise of hospitalisations and a health system nearly at capacity, New York doctor Shamit Patel is preparing for the worst over the next few days, all while hoping he won't have to start choosing which coronavirus patients to treat.

Just 10 days ago, only half of the 46-year-old internist's patients at Beth Israel -- one of the Mount Sinai hospitals in Manhattan -- were suffering from COVID-19.

"We're not over capacity yet, but we're planning for it to go over capacity," he said, adding he thinks the hospital has "planned well." The wave of virus patients at Beth Israel corresponds to the one inundating New York City, which shot from 463 confirmed cases two weeks ago to 36,000 on Monday.

"At the rate that I'm seeing, the peak could be anywhere from end of this week to sometime next week," said Patel.

Under extreme pressure for the past two weeks, he is preparing for the worst, even if "it's something that we hope we don't have to see." For Patel, the worst would be a situation similar to that in certain regions of Italy, where the health system is so overwhelmed that it can no longer take care of all patients.

"You're gonna have to be a little quicker in seeing and assessing and getting the treatment plan for each patient," Patel predicted, noting they "may have to double or triple the number of patients you're seeing." But, he added worriedly, "you can't really go more than triple the number of patients you're seeing in a day and provide effective treatment."