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The Minister of Health is concerned about the number of intensive care beds. The head of SPÖ, Rendi-Wagner, calls for an end to the turquoise green “blind flight in crisis management” of the crown.
Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) hinted at a possible further tightening of measures to contain the corona virus at Ö1 “Morgenjournal” on Saturday. So they are in the room if more than 850 intensive care beds are occupied with Covid 19 patients. It is currently around half, but the daily growth in this area has been enormous in the recent past. Also in Vienna, the situation in hospitals was described as “critical”.
“Setting the course next week”
The number of new infections is also increasing, with more than 8,000 new cases registered in 24 hours for the first time on Saturday. Anchober (Greens) later stressed in a broadcast that next week he would set the course. He also renewed his call for drastically reducing contacts. Anschober described the “dramatically high number of 2,279 positive tests” in Upper Austria as particularly surprising.
“It was to be feared that this week, before the partial lockdown takes effect, the number of new infections will continue to rise. However, over the course of the next week, stabilization should be successful once the measures taken begin to take effect, “Anschober emphasized. If the number of infections continues to rise next week, the healthcare system will gradually reach its limits, Anschober warned. Therefore, stabilization and the help of the entire population is now needed. Contacts should be reduced by at least half, distance should be maintained, and mouth-to-nose protection should be worn.
Additionally, Anschober recommended installing the Stop Corona app. “If stabilization is not successful, as a first step to reverse the trend and lower the numbers again, it is increasingly likely that the measures will be toughened,” said the Health Minister.
SPÖ: “stop flying blind”
Meanwhile, the leader of the SPÖ, Pamela Rendi-Wagner, demanded that the federal government “finally put an end to its blind flight in managing the crown crisis.” It is currently being decided whether or not the infection process can be contained. The government will only act if there is a “fire on the roof,” the former health minister said in a press release. Now is the time to let independent experts take the wheel. They would have to judge “whether the federal government’s measures are sufficient or not.”
If only a quarter of corona cases can be traced, “this illustrates the government’s blind flight,” said the SPÖ president. Monitoring by an independent commission of experts is “absolutely necessary to make adjustments and facilities based on evidence and to be able to learn for the time after closing.”
Situation in “critical” Viennese hospitals
In view of the increasing number of new infections, the Vienna Health Association described the situation in Vienna hospitals as “quite critical”. As announced by the spokeswoman for the health association, Nina Brenner-Küng, 531 Covid-19 patients were in hospital treatment at the health association, 115 of them in intensive care units.
As for the intensive care beds, at the weekend they were still in the fourth stage of the six-stage plan to deal with the crisis situation, which provides capacity for 150 patients with intensive care needs. 35 intensive care beds were still freely available. With an average of two to four new patients added each day in the recent past, there was still room for improvement in this area.
As for the normal beds, however, he had to change to level five. The capacities of the original 400 beds are now continuously increased to 600 if required. “If we need more beds, we will create more beds,” Brenner-Küng assured. Thanks to the collaboration with religious and private hospitals, no patient should fear that in an acute case they will not be treated in the hospital for reasons of capacity.
However, the health association hopes that the measures taken by the federal government to contain the coronavirus will work and reduce the number of infections. At the end of next week there should be an “improvement” in this regard, “otherwise things can get very difficult in Vienna,” Brenner-Küng said.
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