Gommers: ‘Relaxation will not lead to a peak on ICs’ | Inland

On Saturday, a group of intensivists from Brabant hospitals wrote in a letter to the Ministry of Health that “the Dutch population does not seem to realize how close we are at the moment when the limit of our IC capacity is reached.” Gommers understands that people are concerned about the situation in hospitals, but emphasizes that the current pressure on ICs “has nothing to do with the easing.”

The fact that the ICs are now so full is a consequence of our behavior three weeks ago, according to the IC doctor. “The weather was nice at the beginning of April, everyone was close together in the parks. You can now see that reflected in the hospital figures. ” In addition, people are currently not taking it so closely with a number of corona measures, such as the visitors’ scheme. “We do not expect that behavior will change much as a result of these relaxations.”

The disadvantage of opening the terraces and letting go of the curfew, according to Gommers, is that people may think that the crisis is already over and that they are even less likely to adhere to the basic rules. “That is dangerous. We have already partly stopped the critically plannable care, operations that are necessary within six weeks. You can’t keep doing that for very long. That is why I keep saying: realize that it is still very difficult in hospitals. ”

What should ultimately help us out of the crisis is vaccination, says Gommers. “We are currently vaccinating like crazy. That is the key. So if something goes wrong with the vaccination in the coming weeks, we will have a big problem. ”

The Ministry of Health also understands the concerns of the Brabant intensivists. “The situation in hospitals has our full attention. We are in constant contact with the hospital employees and the National Network for Acute Care (LNAZ) and hear the signals loud and clear ”, says a spokesperson. “At the same time, there is also a loud call for perspective from society. The cabinet therefore always makes a broad social assessment in its decision-making, which was the reason for taking a cautious first step on 28 April. The cabinet will continue to closely monitor the figures and forecasts. ”

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