With coronavirus exploding in Europe, hospitals calculate how long until they hit capacity

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Tue, 2020-11-03 09:52 — mike kraft

With coronavirus exploding in Europe, hospitals calculate how long until they hit capacity For Germany, it could be December. For Belgium, it could be this week. Michael Birnbaum, Loveday Morris Washington Post

For Germany, the breaking point could come in December. France and Switzerland might crack by mid-November. Belgium could hit its limit by the end of the week.

Europe, in the throes of a savage second wave of the pandemic, is on the verge of a medical crisis, with intensive care units filling rapidly. Governments are finding that when confronted by the unforgiving reality of an exponentially spreading virus, even vast investments to expand hospital capacity can be washed away in days.

Germany, Europe’s best-resourced nation, risks being swamped even after increasing its intensive care beds by a quarter over the summer. Belgium, which had doubled its intensive care capacity, is now preparing for decisions about which needy patient should get a bed.

“This huge capacity we’ve built gave a false impression of security. It gave a higher buffer, but ultimately it only represents a week when you’re in an exponential phase,” said Emmanuel André, a leading Belgian virologist who has advised the government on the pandemic — and has bitterly criticized leaders for acting too slowly this fall. ...

In Britain, coronavirus-related hospital admissions have doubled in two weeks, and top public health advisers have warned that hospitals could be overwhelmed within six weeks, forcing a reluctant Prime Minister Boris Johnson to announce a lockdown Saturday. ...

Also see: New Russian infections soar; UK, Germany widen testing

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