Record wave of Omicron. There are not enough places in hospitals? A doctor about what awaits us

The wave of Omikron in Poland is accelerating, we are breaking new records for infections. Up to 140 are expected at the peak. illnesses a day, in real terms – even eight times more. We have not seen such numbers. How can hospitals and sanitary centers, which have been overloaded for months anyway, look like in such circumstances? Doctor Bartosz Fiałek, whom we asked for a comment, says directly: paralysis will occur in many places. What does it really mean and when can it start?

1. We have another wave 27 disease record. On January 57, 659 were reported. XNUMX new infections
2. At the peak of the wave, up to 140 people may arrive every day. infections confirmed by tests, the real number of cases is eight times more. There may be a situation where hospitals will find up to 70. people with COVID-19
3. There is already information about the overload of health care facilities, queues for ambulances in front of hospitals, long waiting for the test – and the peak of the wave and hospitalization is still ahead of us. The effects of the current daily records will be felt by the health care system in about two to three weeks
4.  “It is possible that many places will simply become paralyzed,” says the drug. Bartosz Fiałek. – There will be no more six ambulances waiting with the patient in front of the hospital, but e.g. 12, they will not wait five but 20 hours
5. However, there are more problems. Including enormous fatigue of people fighting the epidemic on a daily basis. – We are tired. And not so much with work as with hate and ignorance of a part of society that does not want to vaccinate or apply sanitary and epidemiological rules – admits Bartosz Fiałek
6. More information can be found on the TvoiLokony home page

The Omikron wave in Poland is accelerating. What is the situation of hospitals?

The fifth wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in Poland is rapidly gaining momentum. On January 27, over 57 thousand people were reported. new cases – the largest number since the beginning of the epidemic in our country. But that’s probably just the beginning. In the coming days, the level of new infections confirmed by the test may exceed 60. At the peak of the Omicron wave, expected in mid-February or early March, 140 people may arrive each day. infections. In real terms, there may be as many as 800 of them.

– We did not manage to get off the wave caused by the Delta variant, and we were already attacked by the Omikron development line. There was no pause, no breath. We are just discharging patients who survived COVID-19 during the previous epidemic wave, and we are about to admit many people infected with the Omikron variant – says the drug. Bartosz Fiałek.

And here a key question arises: how will this situation affect the operation of the health care system which has been overburdened for a long time? What will be the access to hospitals for testing? Recently, the Minister of Health admitted that the risk of compromising the health system capacity is currently the highest in the entire course of the pandemic. Looking at the number of occupied beds, you can not see it yet – at the moment over 14 are occupied. covid beds for over 30 thousand. available.

Meanwhile, forecasts predict that in the Omicron wave it may be occupied from 30. up to 70 thousand beds – this is twice as much as in the highest so far spring summit (it is worth noting that according to the ministry’s announcements, the bed base is to be increased to 60, and then hospitals would be transformed as needed).

From the previous waves, we remember the dramatic information about the ropes of ambulances waiting outside hospitals until the bed is free and they can hand over the patient. Unfortunately, these images are starting to come back. And the peak of hospitalization is still ahead of us.

We also know that sanitary facilities are extremely overloaded (let us remind you that they direct people to isolation, and their contacts to quarantine). – I waited half an hour on the phone, I heard that I am in line XNUMX – said one of the MedTvoiLokony readers. She also heard that the overload is so great that information about the imposition of quarantine can be obtained only after its completion.

There are also information about increasingly large queues for tests. What can this lead to?

Further part below the video.

The fifth wave in Poland. «It is possible that it will simply paralyze»

– We have been observing difficulties in the functioning of the health care system during the COVID-19 epidemic in Poland for months, but health care is functioning somehow. Although I have to admit that the work is almost like in a war. What the Omikron variant can lead to may exceed the system’s capacity, the drug commenting on the situation admitted. Bartosz Fiałek.

– I predict that the huge number of cases, and the associated hospitalizations, which will be caused by the new virus lineage, will lead to extremely limited access to health services in many places in Poland. Regardless of the disease, he commented on the situation. – It is possible that it will simply become paralyzed He said bluntly.

1. The fifth wave is shorter but very intense. Soon even 130 infections daily in Poland

– There will be no more six ambulances waiting with the patient in front of the hospital, but for example 12, they will not wait for five, but for 20 hours. During the previous epidemic waves, situations in which the patient was examined in an ambulance and administered medication due to lack of space in the hospital occurred very rarely. Now there will likely be many more. This means that other people in need will wait at home until the ambulance is released – notes Fiałek and reminds that in the case of a patient with COVID-19 there is also disinfection of staff and vehicle, which takes an hour or two (then you can go for a patient who is not suspected of SARS-CoV-2 infection). Importantly, the effects of the current daily records will be felt by the health care system in about two or three weeks (this is the average time that elapses from SARS-CoV-2 infection to hospitalization and possible death).

1. How to soften the fifth wave in Poland? The call of scientists. “Only the will of the rulers is needed”

The consequences of the current records are borne by sanitary workers already today. – Today we have over 57 thousand. infections – it is 57 thousand. isolation and another tens of thousands of quarantines for contact persons – points out Bartosz Fiałek. – Importantly, it can be suspected that the actual number of infections will be up to eight times higher than reported on the basis of the results of tests for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

As the specialist points out, due to the inefficiency of the testing system and the limited capacity of the laboratories, we will not be able to detect all infections – the difference can be even tens of thousands. As a result, we will only see a small percentage of the actual number of cases in the reports. I have no doubts about it – he emphasizes.

There is also another problem. – The antigen test, which can be performed in pharmacies, gives a positive result usually a few days after infection and is positive until we are contagious to the environment – explains the doctor. – For the vaccinated, this time is around 5,5 days. If the waiting time for the test is longer and we do it e.g. a week or a little later after the contact, it may turn out that we get a negative result, because we have already contracted COVID-19.

1. How long does an Omicron infection take and what about “COVID long tail”? [WE EXPLAIN]

“We are just fed up”. The doctor appeals to Poles

Let us remember that hospital beds do not heal themselves – in this context, Bartosz Fiałek pays attention to the most important thing – the condition of health care workers. – Healthcare workers, employees of sanitary and epidemiological stations and others involved in the daily fight against COVID-19 – we are all really terribly tired and just fed up – he says directly.

– During these two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we did not really receive real support from the government, apart from covid supplements. But they don’t make up for what we’re going through. More and more people would give them away if the plague would just end. We are tired. And not so much with work as with hate and ignorance of a part of society that does not want to vaccinate or apply sanitary and epidemiological rules. Then such people flock to the emergency departments of the hospital and shout at us that we are unable to receive all of them within minutes of arriving in the waiting room. This hinders our work to the limit – admits the doctor, emphasizing: – These are my personal feelings, but I think that many health care professionals think similarly.

Given the above, the question arises, what can be done in such a situation? – There is not much left in this wave, which does not mean that nothing is worth doing – says the doctor. – I am invariably calling for the use of masks, keeping distance, hand hygiene, airing and avoiding clusters of people. I urge the unvaccinated people to be vaccinated, as well as those eligible for a booster dose. It is never too late for that, especially as the Omikron variant may not be the last one to cause an epidemic wave. Meanwhile, the more COVID-19 cases, the greater the risk of mutation, and the more mutations, the greater the likelihood of a more dangerous variant emerging – reminds Bartosz Fiałek.

– We should also remember that vaccination against COVID-19 not only protects ourselves, but also affects the better functioning of health care (fewer patients) and normal working conditions for medical personnel. We need it more than ever before.

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