A week ago, the picture was very different. On Monday, November 29, there were 2,845 corona patients in hospital and, according to Kuipers, the peak had not yet been reached. He said he expected that the number of admitted patients would continue to rise for at least another week.
In fact: according to Kuipers hospital occupancy in the first two weeks of December would probably exceed 3200 patients, with 780 people with corona in the ICU at the most favorable. In comparison, during the peak of last winter, there were 2,890 patients with covid in hospital.
So today the LNAZ chairman is much more positive. “I look at it a lot better than a week ago,” he said this afternoon. “I dare say that we have passed a peak, despite the fact that the total occupancy may fluctuate somewhat in the coming days. But in terms of influx we have passed the peak.”
Omikron effect still uncertain
Kuipers speaks of stabilization at a high level, but that does not mean that the pressure on care will immediately decrease and that there will be sufficient capacity again for critical, planable care, for example. “Before we can do more again, the covid pressure has to come down considerably. How long that takes depends on the course of the infections, but you should quickly think of at least a few weeks.”
The number of registered corona infections has been high for weeks now. The effect of the new omikron variant is still uncertain. If this variant leads to a (new) peak in the number of corona infections, it will take time before this is visible in hospitals.
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