Dutch ICU system can’t scale up as planned due to staff shortage: Report
NL TimesScaling up the national intensive care capacity to 1,550 beds is unlikely to succeed as several regions said they are unable to meet their targets, NU.nl reported after visiting hospitals in various regions in the country. They also reported that in the regions of Zwolle, Noord and Noord-West emergency room beds intended for calamities such as major traffic accidents are now commonly being occupied by patients diagnosed with Covid-19. ICU expansion would need to be done at the expense of regular medical care with staff who normally work in other departments then being assigned to intensive care. There were a total of 2,499 people with Covid-19 in Dutch hospitals on Wednesday, a two percent decrease in 24 hours and also two percent lower compared to the previous week.