The concert hall in which the Eurovision competition was to take place in Rotterdam will welcome from Friday dozens of patients with Covid-19 to relieve the burden on Dutch hospitals.
Read also: Coronavirus: the Eurovision 2020 competition canceled
The Ahoy Arena, which was to accommodate thousands of fans of the music competition in May, now houses 88 hospital beds, a capacity that could expand to several hundred depending on needs. One of the halls will be entirely reserved for patients suffering from coronavirus who require treatment but do not need to be admitted to the hospital.
Patients suffering from other illnesses may also be accommodated in order to free up space in hospitals for Covid-19 patients in critical condition. “ Some people are no longer able to cope at home and must be taken care of, on the instruction of their general practitioner. We will soon be able to receive them here in Ahoy, ”said Saskia Baas, director of the Local Public Health Service (GGD) for the Rotterdam region, on Tuesday. People who " can no longer be properly cared for in their care facilities or retirement homes " may also be welcomed, she added during a press presentation.
The decision to develop the Ahoy Arena was taken by the authorities of the region after the cancellation of Eurovision due to the pandemic. “ We were in full preparation for the Eurovision song contest. Suddenly and quickly we had to adapt to the health crisis, ”says Arjen Littooij, director of the security authorities in the Rotterdam region. In the Netherlands, one of the few European countries not to have imposed total containment, 27,419 cases of contamination with Covid-19 were detected, including 2,945 deaths, according to the latest count by the authorities.