Antwerp hospitals sharply in open letter: “Those who do not comply with measures are a threat to fellow human beings”

Dear Antwerp residents

The corona virus is spreading at an express train pace. This again caused a significant increase in both infections and admissions to our hospitals and to our intensive care services.

As always, we are ready to receive our sick fellow citizens. We also receive patients from other, more severely affected regions where the maximum hospital capacity has already been reached.

Above all, we want and must continue to treat patients with other conditions – which cannot tolerate delay – so as not to suffer human losses on this front either.

Our nurses and doctors and all care staff have thrown themselves fully into the relief of the first wave. Today they are again committed at risk to their own health. Not yet or barely recovered, they are now fighting another wave, the impact of which may be even greater than the previous one.

The question is: how long can we still do this? With this rate of spread, the limit of what we as staff and hospitals can handle is in sight. It will be a matter of days before we surpass the peak of the first wave. All forecasts for over two weeks point to a doubling of the number of covid patients in the hospitals.

Even though we are already taking care of a lot of patients and we are still making a lot of beds this week: doubling the current number of covid patients will be extremely difficult, we dare not think of a further increase. This would be dramatic and we must avoid at all costs.

The big difference with April: in the first wave the government had stopped the other care, and there were usually enough people available. To help our current patients, we have had to shut down nearly all non-emergency care with heart pains. We are forced to postpone patients who have been patiently waiting for an examination or treatment for some time to a later date.

Some patients – for whom care is strictly necessary – meanwhile themselves take the initiative to postpone their planned consultation, examination or procedure for fear of the situation in the care institutions. This is not necessary for anything, you can go to the hospital in complete safety.

The power of the epidemic has not stopped by a long way. The objective figures on, among other things, the percentage of positive people in the triage centers of the GPs show this indisputably. New infections are added daily. Part of this population will present itself for admission to our hospitals within seven to twelve days.

That is why it is vitally important that we now all build a barrier against the virus. This is the only way to avoid that all hospitals will soon be unable to receive anyone.

It should be crystal clear to everyone that the choices we make are not only of vital importance to ourselves. What you do also determines the chances of others. Anyone who does not adhere to the measures regarding physical distance and the limitation of contacts to an absolute minimum, is a threat to many fellow human beings.

As those responsible for the Antwerp hospitals, we do everything we can to support and motivate our employees. This can only succeed if everyone contributes by fully respecting the known measures of the government.

We ask that you do this not only for yourself, but also for your loved ones, your friends, your neighbors and our nurses and doctors. Only together can we contain the virus and our healthcare – that is, all of us – survive.

Therefore, we urge you to follow the rules strictly and support each other in this difficult period. For our part, we make every effort to continue to provide the best care for our sick fellow citizens.

On behalf of the Antwerp hospitals

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