In the Czech Republic, the number of new coronavirus infections is increasing. The hospital has 305 people with covid-19 on Tuesday night. Doctors emphasize that isolation beds are also needed for patients with other infectious diseases.
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SIL points out that while in 1990 the infectious diseases department had 4,015 beds in the republic, and there were 40 per 100,000 inhabitants, this year there are 1,023 places, ie 10 per 100,000 inhabitants.
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“The basic role of the state is to protect the population from infectious diseases. Patient isolations are included. Every state creates it. In our country, despite our protests, the founders and directors of hospitals cancel the beds unconceptually because they are economically disadvantageous. However, the market mechanism in healthcare cannot fully function, ”said Petr Kümpel, vice-chairman of SIL and head of the infectious disease department of the State Silesian Hospital in Opava.
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Gradual reduction of the number
As an optimal limit of SIL, he now considers 15 isolation beds per 100,000 people, ie a total of 1,500. According to Küpel, however, 2,000 places would be filled in the Czech Republic. This is because there are more cases where people do not respond to medication, may be infectious and should be isolated from other patients.
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Infectious beds make up 1.4 percent of the bed stock. The share and number decreased gradually. In the mid-1990s, there were 2,395 places in infectious workplaces in the Czech Republic, and 1494 in 2007.
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Beds have decreased in all regions except Prague. Apart from the capital, only Vysočina would now meet the limit of 15 places per 100,000 inhabitants. Above ten beds are the South Bohemian and Moravian-Silesian regions, 14 of them are the South Moravian region. There are 1.4 isolation beds per 100,000 people in the Central Bohemian Region, 5.2 in Zlín, 4.8 in Olomouc and 6.8 in Karlovy Vary. Since 2007, it has fallen by a quarter in a number of regions.
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According to SIL, the disruption of beds was unconceptual and capacity is now insufficient. A set of beds should be created, which would be set aside as insulating if necessary. It should also be in hospitals where there is no infection department. An infectologist should start working in larger hospitals, the company recommends.
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Chief Hygienist Jarmila Rážová said at a press conference that she supported the proposals. The lesson from the current epidemic should be the strengthening of infectious clinics and the possible emergence of positions of infectologists, said Rážová. “These capabilities are needed not only to address the coronavirus crisis,” she added. She noted that new diseases are emerging and many previous infectious diseases are returning.
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According to the government’s commissioner for health research Roman Prymula, investments in infectious medicine are planned. He stated that the capacity in the new pavilions in Pilsen and Hradec Králové could increase, the reconstruction of Bulovka is planned. “A few hundred beds could be activated in this system in some way. If there is a new principle – self-employed infectologists, we could use the capacity of existing beds, “said Prymula.
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