Due to the latest development in the Corona crisis, the city hospitals in Vienna have begun to outsource non-urgent, plannable operations to religious or private hospitals. Where this is not possible, appointments are postponed – “not yet on a large scale, but the stronger dynamic in the infection process is now forcing us to take action,” said Markus Pederiva from the Vienna Health Association (WIGEV) on Friday.
The access regulations to the hospitals are also being tightened to ensure that the coronavirus is not introduced into the facilities. As of now, outpatients have to present a negative test result for SARS-CoV-2 when entering the hospitals, whereby PCR tests may not be more than 72 hours old and antigen tests not more than 48 hours old. This also applies to visits. Patients may continue to receive one visitor who tested negative per day according to a regulation of the Ministry of Health. This has long been planned in nursing homes.
In the WIGEV area, 2,500 operations are carried out every week. Since it is feared that the number of Covid-19 patients will continue to rise, “we have to intervene in the operation of the operating theater. We are very concerned about the development of the number of infections,” said Pederiva.
638 new infections on Friday
In the federal capital, 638 new infections were reported within 24 hours on Friday, a further 239 late reports from the past few days ensured that a total of 877 new cases were recorded. 49 percent of the people who are currently testing positive in Vienna are without symptoms at the time of the test. The source of infection can currently be clarified in 69 percent of cases. Around 4.05 million tests have now been carried out in Vienna.
As far as those infected who come to Vienna for hospital treatment with Covid 19 disease are concerned, it can be stated that the course of the disease tends to get worse. On average, patients in normal wards need intensive medical care more quickly. The main reason for this is probably the meanwhile widespread spread of the virus variants, one suspects the WIGEV, which can rely on observations in the hospitals but not yet on any scientific data. The intensive care patients are also becoming noticeably younger.
Currently level five
It is important to ensure that sufficient bed capacity is available, should the number of Covid patients continue to rise, said WIGES spokesman Pederiva. It is still in stage five of the seven-stage Covid supply plan, the required capacities are still available on the Covid wards in the hospitals. The AKH and the Floridsdorf Clinic are already “occupied to a greater extent,” said Pederiva.
Since around four fifths of the nursing staff and medical staff had themselves vaccinated against the virus, they no longer contribute to the infection process. According to WIGES, clusters have recently not appeared in this area. (apa)