Corona variant How Europe’s healthcare systems are fighting the Omikron wave
The Corona variant Omikron provides the healthcare systems in Europe facing enormous challenges. In many places there is a lack of staff due to the high number of infections. But the sick can’t wait.
In London, soldiers have been sent to help in the overburdened hospitals. In France, infected nurses look after Covid patients. In some regions of Greece, doctors in private practice are to support the state health system from next week. The Netherlands is in lockdown and field hospitals have been set up in Sicily.
These are just a few examples among many. Countries across Europe are struggling to secure their health care, which has been severely strained by Omicron. The new highly contagious variant of the corona virus has hit healthcare systems twice. Clinics are dealing with a wave of infected patients, and at the same time they lack staff because many of the staff are sick or have to isolate themselves. “Omicron means there are more patients to treat and fewer staff to treat them,” said Stephen Powis, medical director of the British National Health Service (NHS) on Friday.
According to World Health Organization WHO on Thursday, a record 9.5 million Covid cases were counted worldwide in the past week – a 71 percent increase compared to the previous seven-day period.
Yes, the number of infections is increasing. But many things are going better or less dramatically than expected. In the end, the omicron variant could even ensure that the pandemic comes to an end.
However, the number of deaths registered weekly decreased. But while Omicron appears to be less serious than the Delta variant when it comes to disease progression, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned to take the virus lightly. “Omicron, like previous variants, hospitalizes people and kills people,” he said. “Indeed, the tsunami of cases is so large and rapid that it is overwhelming health systems around the world.”
This was reflected in London on Friday, where some 200 military personnel, including 40 paramedics, were deployed to hospitals facing “extraordinary” staff shortages. In the next week, another 150 soldiers are to help out with patient transports in north-west England. As of January 2, a total of 39,142 healthcare workers in English hospital groups were absent related to Covid, up 59 per cent on a week earlier, according to the NHS in England.
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Great Britain has also changed its corona test rules against this background in order to shorten the period of time in which people with positive test results have to be in quarantine. In Germany, stricter access rules for cafés, restaurants and pubs were decided on Friday, access is only permitted there for vaccinated people with a current negative test or booster vaccination – so 2G plus applies nationwide in gastronomy. Shortened contact quarantine and infected isolation to prevent infrastructure collapse in the mounting omicron wave.
France starting this week allowing infected hospital workers who have little or no symptoms to continue treating patients instead of self-isolating. On Wednesday, the country reported 332,252 confirmed virus cases – the highest number in a single day in Europe.
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Netherlands are located since Weeks in strict lockdown to take some pressure off hospitals and buy time to speed up a slowly ramping-up campaign for booster shots – third shots. But despite the strict lockdown, infections in the country hit new record highs this week.
In Greece, the government issued a civil mobilization order on Friday that affects resident doctors specializing in pathology, pulmonology and anesthesia. A number of them are due to start helping out in hospitals in four regions in northern Greece, which are suffering from acute staff shortages, starting next Wednesday.
In the Sicilian city of Palermo, additional tent facilities were set up in front of three clinics to relieve the emergency rooms and to be able to quickly put patients in beds instead of having them wait in the parking lot. “We are under absolute pressure,” Tiziana Maniscalichi, director of the Cervello and Civico Palermo hospitals, told the AP news agency. There are at least 70 new patients to be admitted every day.
Italy registered record numbers of infected people, on Thursday alone there were 219,000 new cases. And authorities fear the new wave won’t peak for another two or three weeks. In the southern Italian city of Naples, the clinics are already so overburdened that the head of the local association of hospital doctors, Bruno Zuccarelli, called on the government to take “drastic measures”. Otherwise, one could be forced to turn away some patients. “The situation is critical,” said Zuccarelli. All medical staff in the city – from nurses in intensive care units to ambulance drivers – are under “unmanageable stress”.
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In Britain, where almost 180,000 new infections were reported on Thursday alone, Omicron’s advance has forced so many hospital workers to stay away that military personnel are now having to help out. “We have never seen staff shortages on this scale,” British Medical Association leader Chaand Napaul told Sky News Non-essential surgeries postponed due to bottlenecks. Air Force Gen. John Lyle said talks are underway to extend military support to the NHS to other parts of the country. One cannot look too far into the future, but one knows that the situation is currently most difficult in London, he told the BBC. “But we are aware that this (the new wave) is having an impact across the UK.”
More on the subject: These 4 graphs show why there is reason for optimism
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Read what is still important today You here
In Britain, where almost 180,000 new infections were reported on Thursday alone, Omicron’s advance has forced so many hospital workers to stay away that military personnel are now having to help out. “We have never seen staff shortages on this scale,” British Medical Association leader Chaand Napaul told Sky News Non-essential surgeries postponed due to bottlenecks. Air Force Gen. John Lyle said talks are underway to extend military support to the NHS to other parts of the country. One cannot look too far into the future, but one knows that the situation is currently most difficult in London, he told the BBC. “But we are aware that this (the new wave) is having an impact across the UK.”
More on the subject: These 4 graphs show why there is reason for optimism
© Handelsblatt GmbH – Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Nutzungsrechte erwerben?
Note: This article have been indexed to our site. We do not claim legitimacy, ownership or copyright of any of the content above. To see the article at original source Click Here
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