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52 thousand beds (30% of the country’s total bed capacity) – the limit of Ukraine’s possibilities for coronavirus patients (Photo: REUTERS / Bing Guan)
Due to the increase in the number of hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients, the Ukrainian medical system is approaching the stage where doctors will have to classify patients: who to take for treatment and who not.
This was announced today in a briefing by the Minister of Health of Ukraine, Maxim Stepanov, and said that the number of hospitalizations infected with coronavirus increased by 3.5 thousand in a week.
«25 October 23,266 patients were in our hospitals, sick or suspected of COVID-19. This morning: 26,593 patients. That is, almost 3.5 thousand more per week, “Stepanov explained.
According to him, the limit of the Ukrainian medical system is 52,000 beds, which is 30% of the country’s total bed capacity. Furthermore, at the beginning of the epidemic, the maximum number of beds was 12,000.
Stepanov urged Ukrainians to strictly adhere to the rules and recommendations to stop the growth of the number of people infected with coronavirus and avoid overloading the medical system.
“SINCE such a dynamic when we have 26,593 people (active patients in hospitals), these 52,000 beds will be filled very quickly. And then we will have to apply the appropriate algorithm to classify and select patients: which ones we will take for treatment and which ones we will not, “warned the minister. He pointed out that a similar situation has developed in other countries of the world, because every health system has its limits.
Stepanov also said that he had signed an order according to which the medical institutions of the National Academy of Medical Sciences are switching to treating other non-coherent diseases. “They are ready to allocate almost 5,000 beds for patients with various pathologies, such as cardiovascular diseases, surgical pathologies and urgent pathologies. They are ready to receive these patients in order to ease the Kiev medical system. In addition, four more hospitals will be redesigned in the capital, which will work exclusively with patients with COVID-19, ”the minister explained.
He added that the Ministry of Health proposed in early October to modify the government decree that regulates quarantine measures in the country. “These changes recommended that all business entities, regardless of their ownership, switch to remote work, if possible. It was also recommended to differentiate the start and end times of work as much as possible to minimize contacts between people, ”Stepanov said.
During the past day, the coronavirus in Ukraine was found in 7959 people, 110 deaths were recorded, 2513 patients were recovered.
The daily incidence rate fell below 8,000 for the first time in three days.
During the past day, most cases of coronavirus infection were confirmed in the Kharkiv, Zhytomyr, Donetsk, Khmelnytsky, Chernivtsi regions, as well as in Kiev.
