Shortage of staff due to omicron infections: the first clinics report a corona emergency
Created: 03/07/2022, 14:57
The entrance to the Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital (UKSH): Around 200 nurses and 70 doctors are currently unavailable due to a corona infection, according to an image report (archive image, 2014).
© picture alliance / dpa |
Carsten Rehder
Minister of Health Lauterbach warned of the high number of cases in autumn.
But the summer wave is already rolling over Schleswig-Holstein and is causing a “corona emergency” in clinics.
Kiel – The corona numbers are increasing.
On Saturday, the Robert Koch Institute gave the seven-day incidence as 696, compared to 632 in the previous week and 221 new infections per 100,000 inhabitants in the previous month.
Even if the incidence alone does not provide a complete picture of the infection situation, it at least reflects a trend.
The BA.5 variant is considered to be particularly contagious and already dominates the infection process in Germany.
The University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein and other hospitals in the state are therefore lacking staff.
Coronavirus emergency in Schleswig-Holstein University Hospital and other hospitals
Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) has already warned that the autumn will be difficult.
He believes that "we will have great difficulties with the BA.5 variant that is now spreading here".
Lauterbach expects a very high number of cases, which could also lead to an overload of the critical infrastructure.
This is already a reality in numerous hospitals and clinics in Schleswig-Holstein.
On the one hand, more patients are coming for treatment because of the corona virus, on the other hand, there are more absences from nurses and doctors due to an infection.
The University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein (UKSH) is currently reporting a sharp increase in employees with COVID-19 on both campuses.
In addition, as in the whole country, the number of patients in the emergency room and in inpatient care has increased significantly, according to a UKSH statement on Wednesday.
Various wards and departments would be closed across the country and clinics would try to get the situation under control through “internal reorganization”, “including at the UKSH.” The staff should not go on business trips, the message said.
"We currently need all capacities in the clinics and emergency rooms to be able to treat relevant acute illnesses with the available staff." Of the total of 16,000 employees, 479 are said to be in quarantine at the moment.
BamS
report not ready to use.
Shortage of staff due to corona virus: Citizens should only contact the emergency room in real emergencies
Not only the university hospital is affected, the city hospital also suffers from a lack of staff, as does the professional fire brigade, resident doctors and the Lubinus Clinicum, as the city of Kiel announced.
In the Kiel rescue service, the staff shortages could still be compensated for by staff shifts within the professional fire brigade, it said.
Accordingly, firefighters were assigned to rescue services.
In the Lubinus Clinicum, two wards and three operating rooms have already been closed.
The emergency care is fully secured, it said.
However, patients would have to be prepared for longer waiting times.
"There could be a lack of space for new patients, so the ambulances have to plan longer trips," the city of Kiel wrote on Twitter on Friday.
However, the emergency services would also have to contend with high numbers of sick people.
So we count on the help of the public.
"The clinics are asking everyone to only visit the emergency rooms in real emergencies." All capacities are needed for relevant acute diseases such as heart attacks, strokes, sepsis or seriously injured and oncological patients.
The appeal of the clinics in Schleswig-Holstein to the population was also to take the tested protective measures against the corona virus seriously again.
The Kiel Health Department head Gerwin Stöcken also asked: “Visiting the doctor that is not absolutely necessary should also be postponed.” The Minister of Health of Schleswig-Holstein, Kerstin von der Decken (CDU), called on people suffering from corona or infected people to “stay at home to avoid the slowing down the spread of infection”.
Even after the five-day mandatory isolation, citizens should continue to isolate themselves if the self-test is positive or symptoms are present, said von der Decken.
