© Tozake (VRT)
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“Now we are here again. There is no breathing space. ” On Thursday evening, intensivist Geert Meyfroidt (UZ Leuven) made it clear in Terzake that the situation in the hospitals is serious and that it is also difficult for the care staff to start again.
“To make it concrete: a new hospital is added every day. Every day 400-500 people are admitted. So that’s added, ”says Meyfroidt. “Hospitals can try to organize. And we are going to do that too. But we do not determine the size of what is coming our way. That determine 11 million people and how they behave. ”
Meyfroidt also consulted with the hospitals on Thursday afternoon. And there it was decided that all Belgian hospitals will switch to phase 2A by 2 November at the latest. This means that 60 percent of intensive care beds are kept free for Covid patients. And 15 percent more beds will also be created as a buffer. “We actually have nothing to decide in that regard. That’s just mathematical. We know what’s to come. We really need that capacity, ”says Meyfroidt.
“And the very tragic thing is that we also have to postpone anything we can postpone from regular care. These are a lot of people who are going to receive a phone from their hospital tomorrow: your surgery cannot continue. ” According to Meyfroidt, that decision was not made because there would be a risk of infection. “Those people are not going to get infected in the hospital, it is purely a logistical problem. We need the beds and staff for Covid patients. And that is very bad. In the first place for the patients, but also for the doctors. Doctors are there to care for their patients and now we just have one disease that we cannot control socially. ”
Catch up on work
Presenter Kathleen Cools pointed out that it was already said in the past that regular care should no longer be compromised. “And here we are again. As a sector, hospitals cannot do much about this. There were plenty of warnings when there was still something to be done about it. But now we are going to have to manage that second wave. Yes, there is more sick leave from Covid, but also from non-Covid. There are also people who have not recovered from the first wave. Who have worked very hard and have had a very hard time. And who have it very difficult to start again. ”
Meyfroidt also said he has been feeling some sort of anger in recent weeks. “Damn, are we really going to have to start over? But now there is one mindswitch. We also don’t have time to think about it for very long. It’s all hands on deck again. And now we are going to have left for a few weeks and then we are going to be exhausted again afterwards. And then we have to catch up with the work we have already postponed for two waves. That way there is never breathing space. ” (sgg)
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