Covid today Lombardy, in terms of intensive care and the increase in beds occupied by Covid patients, “there is a situation to which we must respond. Are we worried? The future does not change whether we worry or not. More than worry, we must take care The number of ICU patients in the region is increasing at a more or less constant rate. Compared to previous waves, this rise is slower. As an intensivist I think that today the most important thing is the third dose of anti- Covid. On this I would like to tell people: help us. I invite all those who can, who is close to 5 months after the second dose, to book it. We must do the third dose as quickly as possible “. These are the words of Antonio Pesenti, director of the Anesthesia-Intensive Care Unit of the Milan Polyclinic.
As coordinator of intensive care in the Crisis Unit of the Lombardy Region for the coronavirus emergency, he has the experience of previous Covid waves behind him. Today the numbers of the epidemic have started to rise again and Lombardy, like other regions, must return to tackling the yellow zone risk in a short time horizon. In the intensive care units of the region, at this moment “every day the budget grows by 5-7 extra beds occupied by Covid cases – explains Pesenti to Adnkronos Health – Let’s see when this increase stops. I don’t know when it will happen, I can’t manage to foresee it “.
Is there concern that we may be able to reduce other activities again to deal with the growing Covid problem? “For now – observes the expert – it is possible to maintain an almost normal activity in hospitals. When we exceed a certain number – which one exactly depends from hospital to hospital, but let’s say in general when we will reach around 200 occupied beds in the region – We will have to start doing something. Today we are around 123-125 beds occupied by Covid patients. I do not have an update in ‘real time’ but the number is more or less that, and we are increasing by 5-7 a day “. So if this pace is maintained, it could take 10-15 days to reach 200.
What’s the plan? “Today in Lombardy we have around 17-18 hospitals, let’s say a certain number between 15 and 20, which have already active hub resuscitations dedicated to Covid – summarizes Pesenti – The hospital at the Fair will come into operation when it is appropriate. For now we are preparing all “in the Portello intensive care unit,” we have almost finished the preparation of the 32 beds, two modules of 16 beds. From the Healthcare General Directorate of the Region they will tell us what to do “.
But the doctor places particular emphasis on what citizens can do to help prevent Covid numbers from spiraling out of control. The first point is, the specialist reiterates, the third dose. “We have now seen that the vaccine works. It has a limited duration in time, we thought it was longer, but between variants and various factors we have seen that it lasts a few months. So the third dose must be done quickly. The most important things are always the same: distances, masks, washing hands, and above all getting vaccinated “.
Does the Omicron variant scare intensivists? “Apart from the alarms of the World Health Organization, no one has numbers – reflects the expert – Someone will need to come up with some numbers, saying if the sick are more serious, if the vaccinated are more resistant. We still have to understand what it is. this Omicron variant. In the meantime, let’s move on. “
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