Although there are fewer corona patients in interstitial cystitis than in previous waves, the situation in hospitals is serious. The number of infections is increasing and more and more patients eventually become on interstitial cystitis. Therefore, the temporary cabinet is studying on new measures.
According to epidemiologist Patricia Brugging, additional measures have not been considered, because hospitals will not be able to handle them. The point is that the numbers are rising faster than expected. “This is the reason to talk about new measures.”
“Our forecasts for the current period were apparently overly optimistic however the uncertainty in the coming months has become much greater. If things go faster than expected, where will they go?”
The number of corona infections is rising sharply
The number of newly reported coronavirus cases is It increased again last week. 38,733 new positive tests were recorded in the past seven days. This is 50 percent more than last week. At that time, there were still 25,751 new cases of coronavirus.
Hospital occupancy rates also increased significantly last week, according to the latest figures from RIVM and the National Patient Distribution Coordination Center. The percentage of positive tests also increased: from 12 percent last week to 15.3 percent this week.
The Outbreak Management Team (OMT) will provide advice on Thursday. Outgoing Corona Minister Hugo de Jonge You don’t want to get ahead of it.
“New measures are inevitable,” says health economics professor Marcel Canoy. According to him, the real problem is the limited capacity of the IC, but this shortage of personnel cannot be easily remedied. “You can’t get a thousand nurses into the ICU with the magic button,” he says.
Thus, according to Kanoe, you have to look at what is possible. “For example, you could reintroduce mask adherence or the one-and-a-half meter rule, or better compliance with corona passage. We know these measures are effective and can prevent closure.”
You can also see if local policy is possible, he says, in places where few people are vaccinated, such as Staphorst or Urk. “It may not be 100 percent effective, but every bit of it helps.”
unvaccinated
Bruijning adds: “When you talk about the most effective measures, it makes sense to focus them on the people who have the greatest chance of ending up in the intensive care unit, such as the elderly who are not immunized. If they do not yet have immunity to the virus, through vaccination or previous infection, they have The best chance they’ll end up with interstitial cystitis.”
Figures from the National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) It appears that four out of five corona patients in IC have not been vaccinated. Austria plans to impose a ban on unvaccinated citizens if IC occupancy rises.
Kanoe calls this “too extreme”. “You can’t turn the unvaccinated into second-class citizens,” he says. “Some of the unvaccinated don’t oppose it in principle.”
polarization
According to Bruijning, every choice will lead to polarization. “It’s about what you want as a society. If you impose measures on vaccinated people, they will be angry with all those people who have not been vaccinated. And vice versa: then the unvaccinated people will be angry because they think there is discrimination.”
We should look mainly at what is possible given the current situation, says the health economist, Kanoe. “We know that IC capacity in hospitals is the problematic factor: we can hardly expand and it will stay that way. You have to accept that and at the same time look for the lightest measures to keep the virus under control.”
According to Bruijning, the solution is simple: More people need to be vaccinated. “80 percent of those in the ICU wouldn’t have been vaccinated. Then we didn’t have a capacity problem. And that’s where the profit lies. It’s a shame we can’t convince these people.”
future
But if it doesn’t, can we expect new actions every year? According to Bruijning, this is becoming less likely. “You can still catch the virus if you get vaccinated, but it doesn’t really make you sick anymore. Rather, your immune system is boosted. Thus, coronavirus is nothing more than a cold virus.”
Sooner or later, everyone will deal with this virus and with time the number of people without any form of immunity will decrease. “But at the same time, there will always be a group that is vulnerable to getting seriously ill, just look at the flu. We can assume that we have to deal with a ‘corona wave’ every year, although it will be less than before.”
long-term
In the long run, you have to ask yourself what measures are still proportional to the absorption of the corona wave, says Bruijning. “Are we still in the Netherlands ready to take action in the winter months because we have a limited number of intensive care beds? We didn’t do that before we had the flu.”
“Or should we change it and make sure there is enough capacity to handle future hikes?”
“Total coffee specialist. Hardcore reader. Incurable music scholar. Web guru. Freelance troublemaker. Problem solver. Travel trailblazer.”
More Stories
Brabanders are concerned about climate change.
The “term-linked contract” saves space on the electricity grid.
The oystercatcher, the “unlucky national bird,” is increasingly breeding on rooftops.