Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the growing number of severe cases of COVID-19 in the United States puts doctors at a difficult time making decisions about who will enter the intensive care unit.



"We're dangerously close," Fauci told CNN on the 5th local time.



As some hospitals are approaching the limits of their capacity, some patients may have to forgo intensive care.



Fauci said vaccination is the number one way to reduce hospitalizations.



According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 79.83% of intensive care units in the U.S. nationwide are occupied with patients, and nearly one-third of them are COVID-19 patients.



In eight states, particularly Georgia, Texas, and Florida, 90% of adult intensive care units are full.



As a result, a federal medical support team was dispatched to Kentucky, where the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations is at an all-time high, to help operate more beds over the weekend.



The New York Times counted the average daily number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in the U.S. for the past 7 days as of the 5th as 102,734 and the average daily death toll of 1,560, a 55% increase from two weeks ago.



Both indicators are the highest since the fourth respread.