[ad_1]
Beds are running out and hospitals are on the brink of collapse. If there is one piece of information that more than others serves to explain why a new confinement was fundamental in Piedmont, it is relative to the percentage of Covid-19 positive patients admitted to intensive care and “non-critical” areas, that is, within of departments of internal medicine, infectious diseases and pulmonology. A value that in Piedmont, according to the elaboration of Agenas – the health agency of the Regions – is 97%. More in detail, the occupied beds in the “non-critical” area compared to the available ones are already 101% full. It means that it has exceeded the expected capacity. After all, Piedmont has the highest proportion of hospitalized in a noncritical area of 100,000 residents: 85; Lombardy is at 53, the Italian average at 39. If we take into account the number of people admitted to intensive care, we are 43% of the 575 occupied places; the Italian average is 31%.
This is especially representative data to evaluate the impact of the epidemic in the territory and to certify the alarming state of saturation of the hospitals. Piedmont, the figures speak for themselves, traveling widely above the two alert thresholds set by the control room, the group led by the Higher Institute of Health that monitors the epidemic: when it comes to intensive care employment the Critical threshold is set at 30%, while beds in so-called “non-critical areas”, which are 101% full here, must never exceed 45% occupancy. Piedmont also has the highest rate of all (excluding Liguria) of hospitalized compared to Covid positive: here of every 100 affected by the virus, 8 are in hospital, almost double the percentage of Lombardy.
A serious problem also with regard to the stability of the health system.
Above all because, as the Federation of Italian Medical Orders also recalls, the progressive occupation of places by Covid patients reduces the possibility of guaranteeing care for other patients.
In this context, the Region yesterday unleashed a harsh offensive against the criteria used by the government to decree the “red zone”. The Councilor for Legal Affairs, Maurizio Marrone, requested the minutes of the ministry. “I will discuss with the regional attorney to have a formal opinion on the voidability profiles of Minister Speranza’s order.” The prelude to an appeal? Maybe. Certainly the climate is not relaxed, as shown by the anger of the mayor of Turin Chiara Appendino towards the Region: “Thousands of Piedmontese are blocked at home by a health system that, according to the Region itself, it is not supporting, thousands of companies are closing. Every minute lost in the controversy is a minute less dedicated to them. Now you have to roll up your sleeves and work your stomach to get out in 14 days. “
The virus, on the other hand, continues to work. What is scary is the curve of death. Yesterday 39 new deaths were registered, raising the total to 4,520 since the beginning of the pandemic while the new infections yesterday were 3,171. Almost 4,000 (3,967) are hospitalized, of which 249 are in intensive care (+16 compared to Wednesday) and 3,698 in the ordinary ward (+173).
