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Sweden is highly affected by the coronavirus and a very demanding situation is developing in some intensive care units in the country.
In the capital Stockholm, there are reports that the capacity of hospital intensive care units is about to explode.
Earlier this week, Björn Eriksson, director of health and medical treatment in the region, warned that 99 percent of intensive care units in Stockholm were full.
– The Stockholm region has been significantly more affected than other metropolitan regions. Here there is the greatest need for health services, both at a rapid pace and to a greater extent. We must mobilize all actors in society to offer resistance to the virus, Eriksson said during a press conference.
– An extreme situation
Desperate in Stockholm: – We need help
Now the region’s health director fears that the pressure will continue.
– We must be strong throughout January if it continues at the current rate, Eriksson tells Expressen.
– We have an extreme situation right now with almost 800 hospitalized patients. And it seems that this is going to last longer than ours since the spread of the infection is not reduced. Now we must hope that more people need attention, he continues daily.
– Work 12 hour shifts
The region’s health director has asked private providers for help in handling the situation.
– Some of the employees in the intensive care unit work 12-hour shifts. That is why we need more health personnel for employees to recover, he says.
– It is a difficult situation. It’s an impression we’ve never seen before, he adds.
Activate the alarm
– Tegnell’s theory does not agree
SVT writes that the work pressure in some of the intensive care units is so severe that employees have quit.
Josefine Lundqvist is a nurse and a shop steward for the union. She warns that more hospital employees will resign during the second wave.
– The staff just don’t have the strength. During the spring, we think “we’ll fix this and line up.” Now it is different. Staff can’t handle the second wave, Lundqvist tells the channel.
Employees resign
In the infection ward at Danderyd Hospital in Stockholm, 34 out of 50 nurses have left since January, according to the channel.
SVT has also mapped how many hospital employees have resigned since March in the Stockholm region. The survey shows 3,600 hospital employees have resigned since March, 900 more than in 2019.
According to the channel, people have been temporarily hired to handle the situation.
The press manager of Danderyds hospital in Stockholm, Bernd Schmitz, writes in an email to SVT that activities at the hospital have been carried out “without interruption” despite the layoffs because new employees have been trained before being put to work.
– We need help
The statement provokes reactions: – Unfortunately
Erica Løftedt, press officer for Södersjukhuset in Stockholm, this week described the situation at the hospital as very difficult for Dagbladet.
– It’s hard here now. We need help and have asked for help, he told Dagbladet on Thursday.
Health director Eriksson believes that Stockholm’s population has had too much contact with each other, but that the hospitals have had capacity because the health personnel have done a good job.
– But this doesn’t last long. Now I have requested more support for the nurses in our hospitals from the National Board of Health and Welfare. We need your help, he said earlier this week.
Opens to help Sweden
Get to Sweden
Norwegian authorities opened up on Saturday to send Norwegian medical personnel to Sweden. This was stated by the Ministry of Health and Attention Services to NRK.
According to NRK, Norway has yet to receive a formal consultation from Sweden, but the Ministry of Health and Care Services says they will help if they receive a request.
Emergency Preparedness Director Johanna Sandwall has turned down VG Norway’s help.
– No, there are no such plans at this time. We have capacity available nationwide to meet the need for care at this time. There is a Nordic cooperation under the Nordic Health Contingency Agreement, in which we will help each other in the event of a crisis. But the National Board of Health and Welfare has yet to ask other countries for help, he tells the newspaper.
Last Thursday a new 24-hour record was set in the country with 7,935 new cases of infection in one day.
