[sjwalter]

There always are. Average hospital staffing and resource levels mean at its minimum ICUs are at ~78% capacity. Come low vitamin-D season, January or February, most ICUs hit capacity every year.

Google doesn't run its data centers at 5% capacity for the same reasons ICUs don't.

[greedo]

Sure. It's normal for hospitals to be delaying routine surgical procedures (where they make most of their money) due to not enough staff and beds. It's not just about ICU capacity, it's the overall hospital capacity. My small town has three primary hospitals, and all are seriously overloaded now.