The health service in Stockholm is on its knees, and the situation is described as far worse than it was this spring. There is no indication that it will change quickly.
“This spring, the need for health care went up quickly and down again quickly. Now the high demand remains week after week,” the Stockholm region’s health and care director Björn Eriksson noted.
Eriksson added that capacity is increasing as the need increases. The limitation lies in how long the pressure on the health care system will last.
“This peak is much longer than the spring one. It has been going on since November.
“Despite the fact that we do not have as many COVID patients now, the burden on the health care system is at least as significant, as we have many more patients who do not have COVID-19,” he said.
No changes in the near future?
They don’t see any sign that the situation is about to change in the near future.
“There is nothing more important than the decrease of the spread of infection, but we see no signs of that,” Eriksson said.
He believes that the vast majority of people in the region follow the guidelines.
Nevertheless, the infection continues to be at a high level.
Stockholmers follow the recommendations to a large extent, but the spread of infection is unchanged, Erikson noted.
Long working days
On Tuesday, 800 patients with coronavirus were admitted to the Swedish capital region’s emergency hospitals, Eriksson said.
“This means that the health personnel will not be able to be with their loved ones on the weekends as much as they deserve.
“They must continue to take extra shifts and long shifts. The situation has never been as strained in the health care system as it is now…
“It has not happened as long as we who are working now can remember,” he concluded.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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