Health care in the Netherlands is at risk due to the spread of the coronavirus. In Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, the emergency rooms of hospitals have already had to be temporarily closed, as the head of the acute medical care network, Ernst Kuipers, announced today to the parliament in The Hague.
Because all beds were occupied and too few staff were available, first aid departments had to close for several hours and ambulances had to take patients to other hospitals or cities.
In hospitals and intensive care units in the Netherlands, however, the number of Covid 19 patients is increasing rapidly. The government tightened the measures and imposed a partial lockdow.
Despite the new measures, the hospitals expect that by November, in the best-case scenario, 40 percent of regular care will have to be cut. If the measures do not work, a reduction of 75 percent is expected in the worst case.
„Then only first aid remains in addition to Covid-19 care,“ said Kuipers. The situation is „gloomy“ compared to the first wave. Hospitals have already canceled hundreds of operations and canceled numerous treatments.
