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In Covid-19 hospitals: the risk limit has not been reached but is approaching

Data from the Center for Disease Prevention and Control show that one of the routes of infection with Covid-19 is currently in medical facilities, which is of great concern to epidemiologists.

Half of the critical limit

The number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals is changing every day, but the total number is increasing every day. According to the latest data from the National Health Service, there are more than a hundred Covid-19 patients in hospitals, seven of whom have a severe course of the disease. The Ministry of Health has analyzed data on hospital admissions and hospital capacity, concluding that the current infection dynamics in bed hospitals is sufficient. The position of the Ministry of Health is currently that no reorganization or restrictions on the provision of health care services should be introduced for the time being. Minister of Health Ilze Hänķele points out that the beds of 250 Covid-19 patients are the limit at which the provision of all health care services does not need to be significantly reorganized.

The Ministry of Health points out that hospitals are currently important implement a holistic approach to Covid-19 patients and follow the hospitalization plan. At the same time,

If the number of illnesses and the number of patients with a serious health condition increases, plans for re-profiling beds and wards have been established in medical institutions.,

after which it is possible to provide extra beds for both patients with moderate and severe disease.

The number of inpatients is growing

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The majority of Covid-19 patients are currently being treated at the INFECTOLOGY Center in Riga, but the hospital’s ability to accommodate even more patients depends not so much on the beds as on the medical resource. / Kaspars Krafts / F64

Imants Paeglītis, Chairman of the Board of Riga East Clinical University Hospital, noting that the number of patients admitted to the hospital is changing every day, admits that the number of inpatients has really increased in recent days. An average of 70 patients were treated at the Latvian Center for Infectious Diseases, which is one of the inpatients of the Riga East Hospital, where Covid-19 patients are primarily placed. Riga East Hospital have developed criteria for organizing the hospitalization of patients if the capacity of the Infectious Diseases Center would not be sufficient. In that case, patients would be taken to the Tuberculosis and Lung Disease Center and the inpatient “Gaiļezers” using its Toxicology and Sepsis Clinic.

The total number of hospital beds planned for Covid-19 patients is currently not accurate, as it is not limited to beds. In order to treat the growing number of patients with Covid-19, medical staff should be available accordingly. The hospital needs additional resources, and if doctors, nurses, and support staff need to focus more on Covid-19 patients, the hospital may need to limit outpatient services or scheduled admissions.

Doctors overworked

Understandably, doctors work and perform their duties without bonuses, but there is a difference from the emergency situation in the spring, when doctors who worked with Covid-19 patients were granted bonuses. There are currently no such bonuses. The head of the Latvian Hospital Association Jevgēnijs Kalējs points out this. He also stressed that doctors are overwhelmed and in fact there is no solution at the moment. One solution would be additional pay for work under heavy workload, as well as reorganization in health care. In several hospitals, the resource for treating Covid-19 patients is already running out, as it must be borne in mind that the treatment of coronavirus patients requires completely different epidemiological safety measures and affects the whole hospital.

Recent data from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control show that there is an increasing risk of infection in healthcare facilities, and this also has a significant impact on hospitals’ ability to receive patients, with or without Covid-19.

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