Track how full ICUs are with Covid patients across the U.S.

 Maps: Track how full ICUs are with Covid patients across the U.S.

In Maryland, Covid patients are now filling 42 percent of the state’s adult intensive care unit beds, the highest rate in the nation.

In Connecticut, 32 percent of adult ICU beds are filled with Covid patients, more than double the rate four weeks ago.

These are just two states where the share of Covid patients in ICUs are growing, and ICUs report that more than 80 percent of their beds are in use, a pandemic record. As of Wednesday, the share of ICU beds given to adult patients with Covid had increased in three-fourths of the country, as more people require aid in highly stressed critical care facilities, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Hospital ICU stress, a measure designed to help hospitals plan and manage their surge capacity, was a concept introduced by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine. The scale is based on the share of ICU hospital beds used by Covid patients. Low-stress hospitals have less than 10 percent of critical care beds occupied by Covid patients; high-stress hospitals have 30 to 59 percent.

These maps show hospital ICU stress levels among adults and track how they have changed over time. They will be updated daily.