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“The situation is very dire,” Paul Sungler, managing director of the Salzburger Landeskliniken (SALK) and head of the state Covid-19 crisis medical team, told the APA in the afternoon. “We know that it takes at least seven to ten days for the lockdown to have an impact. Above it hangs the sword of Damocles that many residents and employees are currently infected in retirement homes. That does not make the situation easier,” Sungler emphasized.
He feared more home patients would join in the next few days. At the same time, the country’s health authorities reported 826 new infections with the corona virus on Tuesday, significantly more than in previous days.
Clinics in Pinzgau and Pongau to the limit
As Sungler reported to the APA, the Kardinal-Schwarzberg-Klinikum in Schwarzach (Pongau) with around 40 occupied Covid beds is already running on the brink, and the Tauernklinikum in Zell am See (Pinzgau) is also treating 29 patients, seven more than in the step-by-step plan. really intentional. “To cushion something here, we have also increased from 25 to 35 places on the St. Veit site,” reported SALK’s managing director.
Increase to 83 intensive care beds
Nationwide, there are currently 267 beds available for the treatment of Covid patients, 45 are for intensive care patients. This last number can be increased to 83 beds if necessary. “But that only works if we have staff from private hospitals. Without the doctors, anesthetists, and intensive care staff from private clinics, we can’t operate these additional sites.”
Very hard-working Covid patients
If the number of patients continues to rise, there is a risk that in Salzburg, as a near-last step in the plan, only four operating rooms (out of 28 otherwise) may be operated. “Then it will only be able to operate in acute emergencies,” Sungler explained. Currently, the bottleneck is neither the number of beds nor the number of fans, but the staff. “I need more staff to care for a Covid intensive care patient. Even in the normal ward, I have to block two beds for a Covid patient.” Now he’s pinning all his hopes on the second lock. “If everything works out, we could come out with a deep blue eye.”
Sufficient protective equipment in Salzburg hospitals.
On another level, however, there are hardly any concerns. Sufficient protective equipment and consumables are currently available. “We buy enough upfront here and we’re well prepared,” Sungler explained. Only funds for laboratory equipment are scarce. “But here there are supply problems across Europe.”
The question of whether to rely on employees who have tested positive for protective equipment to maintain supply also does not arise at this point. “More recently, six employees at the state clinics, two doctors and four people in the administration tested positive. With about 6,450 employees, that’s less than one per thousand.”
“Emergency hospital” should bring relaxation
An “emergency hospital” in the currently vacant former Wehrle clinic in the city of Salzburg should also bring some relaxation. It is intended for residents of homes for the elderly and disabled who do not need to be cared for in a hospital, but who cannot be isolated or cared for in its facilities. Commissioning scheduled for yesterday Monday was recently delayed. Two qualified nurses were missing. “We have now been able to win over two employees who were recently assigned to teaching at the schools and who participated in the investigation,” Sungler said. “At the moment I cannot do without anyone from the operational team.” The auxiliary hospital should go into operation next week.
(Those: APA)
