Health experts are warning spiking coronavirus cases are overwhelming hospitals nationwide

• Hospitals are issuing warnings that they will not have adequate supply levels or people power to care for patients as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases continues to surge nationwide.
• Hospital officials in Texas, Montana, Idaho, Utah, and elsewhere are taking steps to limit or spread out their services and resources.
• At the height of the pandemic in March, experts warned that shortages across the healthcare system might make caring for sick patients significantly harder.

Hospitals nationwide are sounding the alarm to warn the surging number of confirmed coronavirus cases in multiple states might overwhelm them in the weeks to come.

There is a particular cause for concern across the Midwest and the Mountain States, where rural zones are beginning to face a shortage of health workers able to respond to patients in need of care.

In an attempt to get in front of these looming concerns, Utah hospitals will begin to ration care in the next month, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Doctors in the state compiled a list of criteria that will determine which patients are able to stay in overcrowded intensive-care units and which will be booted to prioritize the most dire cases.

Hospital administrators presented the criteria to Gov. Gary Herbert to be "activated if this trend continues," Greg Bell, president of the Utah Hospital Association, told the Tribune, adding, "and we see no reason why it won't."

Over the weekend, a county judge in El Paso, Texas, issued a stay-at-home order in response to a rising number of overwhelmed hospitals.

Idaho is also bolstering its safety precautions due to coronavirus spikes and overcrowded hospitals. Gov. Brad Little on Monday announced the state will again tighten indoor and outdoor capacity limits to curtail the spread of the coronavirus.

"Hospitals throughout the state are quickly filling up or are already full with COVID-19 patients and other patients, and way too many health care workers are out sick with COVID-19," Little said, according to the Idaho Statesman.

Each of these states has seen surges in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump continues to hammer home the message that the coronavirus is overhyped. Speaking at multiple rallies and posting a string of tweets between Saturday and Tuesday, Trump once again downplayed the virus and claimed it's "rounding the turn," a phrase that's inconsistent with data showing surges in infection rates.

"The Fake News Media is riding COVID, COVID, COVID, all the way to the Election! Losers!" Trump tweeted on Monday.

"ALL THE FAKE NEWS MEDIA WANTS TO TALK ABOUT IS COVID, COVID, COVID. ON NOVEMBER 4th, YOU WON'T BE HEARING SO MUCH ABOUT IT ANYMORE. WE ARE ROUNDING THE TURN!!!" he tweeted Tuesday.

Trump's claims go against the predictions made by local health officials across the country. Data also indicate positive cases are rising in multiple states.

Hospitals are trying to respond to the surging cases by allocating and rationing people, power, and medical materials. But the medical facilities and resources remain at risk of inundation and overcrowding if cases continue to spike.

At the height of the pandemic in March, experts warned that shortages across the healthcare system might make caring for sick patients significantly harder.

The coronavirus has so far infected more than 8.7 million people in the United States, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Of that, more than 225,000 people have died.