Due to the spread of Covid-19 in hospitals, the procedure for admitting patients is being changed / Article / LSM.lv

Another new Covid-19 antirecord has been achieved – 80 coronavirus patients are currently being treated in hospitals, the largest number of Covid-19 patients hospitalized at the same time. With the increase in the incidence of Covid-19 and the increasing number of inpatient wards, the order of admission of patients has changed, and now Covid-19 patients are purposefully separated from other patients with chronic diseases.

With the increase in the prevalence of Covid-19 and the number of inpatient coronavirus patients, the Emergency Medical Service has been instructed to transport patients with chronic diseases outside Riga to small hospitals, thus freeing up places in Cospid-19 patients and people with acute illnesses in large hospitals.

There are currently 80 Covid-19 patients in hospital, and the number is growing every day. Hospitals in general are not overloaded with coronavirus patients, but the largest load is for Riga East Hospital. Most patients go to its Infectious Diseases Center.

The situation is serious, the Infectious Diseases Center filled 52 out of 100 beds. And if the situation does not improve, the more important each vacancy becomes.

Of course, there are also plans “B” and “C”. There is a ward in the large hospital “Gaiļezers”, where Covid-19 patients are also located with other pathologies, such as surgery, with strokes. Next, if we are ever satisfied, Plan B will work and we will transfer the patients to the Pulmonary Tuberculosis Hospital. This is the case if we are full. The situation is changing every day, ”explained Inga Ažiņa, Acting Chief Physician of the Latvian Center for Infectious Diseases.

To relieve the burden of Covid-19 patients at the Riga hospital, patients with chronic diseases are now transported to hospitals in the regions, but the size of the hospitals there is much smaller.

Thus, there are already situations when it is impossible to admit everyone at all.

The patient is then offered treatment in another hospital, which may be further away from his place of residence. For example, several dozen patients from Riga were taken to Ogre Hospital last week and the admission of patients had to be temporarily suspended because there were no vacancies.

“It was also the case, for example, last week, on Wednesday, when patients were taken to these vacancies, the treating doctor examined each patient, assessed [veselības] pregnant. If a patient requires hospitalization, we have repeatedly reported to the NSA that the patient needs hospitalization, but we are unable to admit him or her due to a lack of vacancies. And then the patient was transferred to another hospital, where there are vacancies, ”said Evita Līva, the chief doctor of Ogre Hospital.

In total, Ogre Hospital has 100 beds. Only seven of them are currently free, and certainly not for long.

“It must be taken into account that the supply of staff in the regions is also relatively poor.

This is the main thing, and it may be that at the moment, if the staff leaves the ranks as a contact person or needs quarantine, then the departments will have to close. We fear that patients brought to intensive care will also be involved. It will be quite painful, because we know that intensive care beds are not compensated in the regions, ”said Jevgēnijs Kalējs, Chairman of the Latvian Hospital Association.

Those who can be treated in lower-level hospitals will also be referred there, at least for the time being.

The aim is to maintain planned health care services for as long as possible.

“It should not be understood that patients are denied this assistance. If the patient’s condition requires treatment in the East or Stradiņš Hospital, it means that these patients are also hospitalized and treated there. It should be noted that all epidemiological safety requirements must be met when placing these patients in wards. So at this point, we don’t have to think about the fact that we want to relieve university hospitals. They are overcrowded with these patients, ”explained Sanita Janka, Head of the Medical Quality Department of the Ministry of Health.

How long will this be? No one knows, because it will all depend on how responsible we are for the restrictions imposed by the country and how much the need for inpatient treatment of Covid-19 patients will be.

CONTEXT:

In Latvia on June 10 ended Emergency to declare the new coronavir announced on 12 March. The virus is still circulating and there is no medicine or vaccine for it. Certain restrictions still apply to reduce the spread of Covid-19.

The situation was stable during the summer, but at the end of September the incidence rose sharply and the 14-day cumulative number of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 population exceeded 25 cases. Queues for Covid-19 tests are also increasing, and asymptomatic people are already invited not to report the test.

In response to the spread of the disease, the government decided that face masks are mandatory in public transport from 7 October. On October 13, the government decided that masks should also be worn in public placesstaying more than 15 minutes. Currently in Latvia public events Up to 500 people can gather indoors, up to 1000 in the open air. In private events, 30 can gather indoors and 300 outdoors.