Hospitals of Brabant: ‘We will have to cut back on regular care again’

For weeks, the Corona situation in hospitals in Brabant has been stable, although the pressure on Corona departments has remained consistently high despite the strict lockdown. This has changed for two weeks. Not only has the number of hospitalized Corona patients rapidly increasing to 400, but with 109 most Corona patients in intensive care since the first wave in the spring of 2020.

No good statistics. Certainly given the pollution numbers that are also on the rise. Because the general rule is: the more coronavirus cases are detected now, the higher the number of hospital admissions will be within a week or two. And so Bearden is anxious once again as a hospital director.

Fully cares the intense
Currently, there are 200 intensive care beds operating in our district, while we usually have 120 beds. So we’ve expanded tremendously. The difference with the first wave is that we now also do a lot of non-coronary care. As a result, both corona and non-coronal integrated circuits are almost completely filled. This worries us, “Bearden says.

Even if hospitals would like: Coronavirus care cannot be expanded without canceling regular care, according to Byrdine. Shelf outside. We will have to make decisive choices. Now it’s shrinking 25 percent. By comparison, during the second wave it was 60 percent. It’s about people we don’t want to keep waiting again. “

The effect of the first vaccination
Bearden cannot predict how much extra care hospitals will have to cancel. But this will almost certainly increase. We think the number of admissions will rise again by 10 percent next week. But I don’t know exactly what we end up with. It also depends on how quickly we vaccinate people. “

Let this be just a point of discussion. According to many critics, the piercing process is very slow. Bearden is also not happy with it, either. Although it became clear in February that with immunization alone, the Netherlands would not escape a third wave.

However, the first effects of vaccination are also visible in hospitals. Many people over the age of 80 have been vaccinated against the Coronavirus. Fewer of them are in intensive care than before. With people between the ages of 55 and 80, there are now somewhat younger people. It may seem strange to describe this in the affirmative, but according to the head of ROAZ, this proves that vaccination works. Bearden: “So we want to increase the rate of injection.”

“The sun kills for the virus”
How can we – with the most commonly circulated Corona variant – in addition to vaccination, ensure that the pressure on hospitals and other care is reduced? Bearden mentions two things. “The weather is getting better. The sun and high temperatures are killing the virus. This effect is strong.” But most importantly: “Stick to the rules better, even if we find it difficult.”

Overall it’s not a nice message for Easter, before another weekend we usually like to celebrate it together. Bearden: “We will have to adapt. Even though there is light at the end of the tunnel, vaccination is an effective strategy.”

Another 15% of Coronavirus cases: ‘All hands are red’

More Corona patients have been admitted, and the pressure on integrated circuits is the highest since the first wave