Filenews 22 April 2021 - by Marilena Panagia
It runs to meet the huge needs that exist in available beds for patients with coronavirus the Organization of State Health Services, since the completeness of the hospital wards, is found in all hospitals, on a daily basis, close to 100%. Doctors and nurses yesterday made a dramatic appeal to the public to respect protection measures, stressing that the outbreak recorded in recent days will inevitably lead to a large increase in patients needing hospitalisation in the coming period.
Beds for patients with coronavirus have been operating for days in all the provincial hospitals of Cyprus as well as in the Makarios Hospital while the reference hospital is at 100% of its capacity.
Every day in the hospitals, according to OKY spokesman Charalambo Charilaou, around 280 patients with coronavirus are hospitalized, of which 30-35 are intubated in the Intensive Care Units.
"On average we have 280 patients a day and a greater number of them are in ICU, which is increasing every day. There is a bed recovery plan based on the assessment of the epidemiological picture made daily. But it is not enough to open beds, we need to see the system in its entireness and the needs for non COVID incidents."
The Agency continued, "proceeds without delay to the development of more beds in the short-term hospital department at Limassol general hospital where there is a huge problem with the under-capacity of the ward for patients with coronavirus", and stressed that "the increase in available beds is imposed by the number of daily cases which gives a clear indication that the number of hospitalized patients in the coming days will be greater". At the same time, he added, "a plan is being made that will be agreed for the development of further beds in terms of the treatment of coronavirus, generally by state hospitals."
At the moment, he said, "we have developed more than 50 beds in short-term hospitalization, they are additional beds out of the 300 that we have announced and require very high staffing."
A communication was issued yesterday afternoon and the Directorate of the OKYY informing that "the operational plan for the pandemic, which is in place and provides for the development of about 400 beds in common wards and 65 beds in ICU, is evaluated on a Pancyprian basis and is being adjusted daily to respond to constantly changing conditions and increased needs".
For the part of Health Minister Konstantinos Ioannou, in a statement he stressed that "no longer in hospitals are elderly people, who are more vulnerable to the virus, but younger people who in most cases are healthy citizens and are in this position, because they did not notice as much as they should or because they relaxed too much and forgot the basic personal protection measures that we all have to follow".
"What I'm saying," he said, "is that our brother, our best friend, our cousin, our children's teacher are now being treated in hospitals. We cannot afford to lose human lives."
The Minister of Health explained in conclusion that "in hospitals there is the possibility to develop up to 400 beds and there is the necessary equipment and consumables" and added that "cooperation with the private sector significantly discharges the hospitals of the OKYY from the other incidents although the point is, to have competence in human resources, doctors of specific specialties and nursing staff".
At its limits the hospital of Limassol
The number of patients hospitalized with coronavirus in the Limassol hospital showed a slight decrease yesterday, but the situation remains at a marginal point, resulting in doctors and nurses being in an ongoing battle to find available beds. Typical were the statements of the doctor in charge of the ward of patients with coronavirus, Andreas Kostis. "We don't know how we will be able to cope with what we expect next week either," he said, adding: "We have been moving to the limits of our fullness for some time now. We start in the morning with a safety bed and if we are lucky we keep it, however, until the day's discharges are made, we are already full of admissions of short-term hospitalization, so we are essentially constantly full." If, he added, "with 500-600 cases of coronavirus we had 25 to 35 admissions a day, the terrifying scenario of 50 and 60 admissions a day is no longer far off, with the previous day's record of 941 new cases."
Referring to the ages of people in need of hospitalization, Mr. Kostis said that in the Limassol hospital ward, a 17-year-old woman was hospitalized yesterday while on Tuesday, "there were two people intubated, one involving a 47-year-old man, who due to an unstable condition could not be transferred, as is the case in cases of intubatations, to Nicosia".
3,000 people needed hospitalization
According to data released yesterday by the OKY, since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, the Agency's hospitals have treated more than 3,000 patients with Covid-19. Currently, more than 280 people are hospitalized almost daily in COVID-19 wards, a large number of whom are hospitalized in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and many others in Increased Care Unit conditions. At the same time, another 700 patients are being treated for other conditions.
"The median age of patients hospitalized is 59.6 years and the average hospitalization time in common wards at 6 days".
291 patients, 71 in serious condition
Yesterday saw a new record number of hospitalized patients with coronavirus since according to the official announcement of the Ministry of Health, 291 people were in public hospitals, 71 of whom were in serious condition.
A total of 39 patients were hospitalized in the Intensive Care Units of the Nicosia hospital and of these 33 were intubated. Another 32 patients were hospitalized in Increased Care Units operating in all hospitals.
In detail, 86 patients were treated at the Nicosia Hospital, at the Limassol Hospital 56, at Famagusta Hospital 74, at Larnaca Hospital 47, at Paphos Hospital 20 and at Makarios Hospital 8 patients.
