“There is a lack of reserves throughout the canton”: KSA chief doctor, Fux, contradicts the Gallati government councilor – Canton (Aargau) – Aargau

Government Councilor Jean-Pierre Gallati says the hospitals have sufficient capacity. Do you see that immediately?

Christoph Fux: Unfortunately not.

Why?

Because it focuses on the beds and not the staff. The situation is critical for all nurses and doctors in intensive care units. In all other areas, it is hardly enough. There are no canton-wide reserves to deal with the deferred operation.

So do hospitals have enough beds, but lack staff?

I agree. The same applies to vented locations – when Councilor Gallati says there is a 33 percent reserve, that’s true. But the beds are still taken because
At least with us at Aarau Cantonal Hospital, every intensive care place is also a place of ventilation. When these beds are full, we don’t care if a person is ventilated or not. The fact is that the bed is occupied, and therefore the ventilation space is not free.

Christoph Fux on Tele-M1’s current “talk of the day”:

So, is the health director wrong when he says that the capacities of the hospitals are sufficient?

It is a matter of optics. The situation in the hospitals is currently under control. We do not have to turn away patients who need intensive care treatment or urgent surgery. We hardly have to transfer patients to hospitals outside the canton. The canton can take care of itself. But the price is high.

What is that supposed to mean?

We are currently postponing numerous non-urgent operations. All hospitals have reduced the number of interventions by at least a third or even half. We will have to catch up on these operations at some point. Nursing staff are also under maximum stress at this time, if not at the limit of their capacity. Also, there are crown-related failures among employees.

They have more alarming tones than the director of health and the doctor of the canton.

For me, the tonality was fatal because it did not demand a change in the behavior of the population. The federal government said we have to cut the number of cases in half every two weeks if we are to survive the holiday season well. We are very far from that in Aargau. Christmas will bring more risky behaviors and more cases, we need reserves. And with an average of 300 new cases per day, we accept three deaths per day. It is necessary to debate whether this price for freedom and the economy is justified. Especially since we will soon be able to get vaccinated.

What do you ask the governing council?

It should at least appeal to the residents of Aargau to take responsibility for themselves. We would also like only people from a maximum of two households to be able to meet until December 23rd.

Are you sure these measures will arrive?

The canton of Aargau has no other choice. Federal Councilor Alain Berset has clearly stated what he expects and that he will order action if the cantons do not act on their own. What surprises me is that many people only behave differently when someone tells them to. I would like more people to go into voluntary “lockdown”, work in the home office, and have mostly virtual contacts until Christmas.