Basically, the R number tells you on average how many people one sick person infects.In the U.S., however, none of the variants appear to be spreading as quickly as they are in China.However, the outbreak could look quite different outside major coastal cities like Beijing because rural areas have much poorer health-care systems.Despite a recent effort by the government to increase ICU capacity, Chen still thinks there are way too few ICU beds in many parts of the country.If people at high risk continue to quarantine voluntarily, the death toll could be lower."