Countries extend restrictions in an effort to prevent hospital overcrowding / Article / LSM.lv

Covid-19 in Europe: Countries are expanding restrictions to avoid overcrowding in hospitalsRihards Plūme00:00 / 00:00

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IN SHORT

• Germany is coping relatively well with the increase in hospitalizations, but the chronic shortage of health workers is growing across the country;
• In Italy, where more than 40,000 people were infected on Friday, it was decided to expand the number of high-risk “red zones”;
• In Naples, hospitals and doctors are already almost crowded to treat patients in cars;
• In Greece, primary schools, kindergartens and day care centers are being closed;
• Since the end of October, the number of daily Covid-19-related deaths in Greece has quadrupled;
• In the Czech Republic, not only the health care system but also crematoria have to bear a heavy burden.

Concerns about the burden of the virus on the healthcare system exist in many parts of Europe. The increase in hospitalizations is relatively successful Germany, where 6,000 intensive care beds are still available. However, the number of patients with coronavir in intensive care this week exceeded the record reached in the first wave. Health officials have repeatedly warned that the number of infections urgently needs to be reduced so that hospitals can also care for new patients in the coming weeks. Services have to be curtailed and, for example, some less urgent operations at the Aachen hospital are already being postponed, although not completely canceled as in the spring. As the hospital doctor Guernotte Marx explains to AFP,

chronic shortages of health care workers are rising across the country as some workers are quarantined while others suffer from seasonal flu.

He is not particularly optimistic, pointing out that even if a viable vaccine appears, the marathon of treatment for the seriously ill will continue.

In turn In Italy, which affected more than 40,000 people on Friday, it was decided to expand the number of high-risk ‘red zones’ to include regions in Italy such as Tuscany and Campania. According to a study carried out two years ago and published this year, Campania is the second weakest region in Italy in terms of the quality of health care. In the center of the region

In Naples, almost crowded hospitals and doctors have been forced to treat patients in cars.

Here is what the Mayor of Naples, Luigi de Magistris, is saying: “We are observing very serious situations. We have news that there is no more oxygen in pharmacies. We also hear about emergency departments that have already reached their patient admission limit. So it’s an extreme situation and I don’t know why we had to wait so long to intervene. “

Also In Greece, where a night curfew has been in place since Friday, but strict nationwide quarantine has been introduced since November 7, the increase in the number of infections has caused a great burden on the health care system. For this reason, the government announced today that are closed primary schools, kindergartens and day care centers.

In most European countries, in the second wave of the Covid-19 epidemic, which began in September, schools continued to operate, unlike in March and April, when they were closed during the first phase of quarantine. The World Health Organization has recommended that school closures be used only as a last resort. Since the end of October, the number of daily Covid-19-related deaths in Greece has quadrupled and the number of new infections has doubled. In Greek hospitals, 830 out of 1143 intensive care unit beds were occupied on Friday.

Meanwhile In the Czech Republic a heavy load must be borne not only by the health care system but also crematoriumwhich are overloaded. For several weeks now, the Czech Republic has been the worst affected country in Europe in terms of the number of new Covid-19 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. About 200 people die every day in this country.

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