My answer to a question about why we don’t expose everyone so we develop immunity faster.

Let’s say a small community hospital has an ICU with 10 beds with ventilators available. Also, let’s assume the average ventilator/life support required for a COVID-19 patient is 5-7 days. This means about 500 patients a year can be “saved” or supported during the course of the year. Now let’s suppose that all 500 patients come in during te first week. We can still only care for 10, meaning 490 will die. This is why “flattening the curve” is important. It allows for staggered exposure and increased ability to care for those who are sickest over time. It takes a while for personal and “herd” immunity to develop.