Hospitals in Brabant are experiencing increased corona pressure every day. They are now forced to further downsize regular care by 40%. This move aims to free up capacity for sick corona patients.
There are major concerns about the rapid increase in corona patients requiring hospital care. For example, there are 98 more patients in the hospital on Wednesday than last Friday. If the trend continues, hospitals will soon have to cancel more ordinary care. On Wednesday, there are 321 patients with coronavirus. The number is over half of the number during the big peak this spring when almost all planned care was cancelled.
Hospitals are also confronted with higher absenteeism. In Brabant, 7% of the staff is not available for work. Corona plays a major role in this. For example, 108 employees of the Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital tested positive in two weeks.
According to Coen Berends, a spokesman from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), it will take another week to see the effects of the current measures from the contamination figures. However, the effects on hospital admissions will take longer because infected patients usually take a while before ending up in hospitals if so.
Source: Omroep Brabant
Translator: Shufei
