Infection Protection Doctor: "The situation is under control"

Östergötland is one of the counties that has the largest proportion of infected in relation to the population. At lunchtime on Saturday, 120 people with confirmed covid-19 were cared for in a hospital in Östergötland. Of these, 26 people were cared for in an intensive care unit.

In our direct reporting on the development in Östergötland and Gotland, which you will find here, several people have wondered if the care resources will suffice.

“In Stockholm, a storm is reported and the situation is very strained, but nothing similar is heard from Östergötland. Are the preparedness and resource situation so much better here? ” writes a reader.

“Can you ask how many IVA sites there are in Östergötland? What is the region doing to increase places at present? ” another person writes to us.

Deputy infectious disease doctor Jens Raffelsberger tells SVT News Öst that it is not so easy to say how many care places there are because you constantly adapt the care places to the need.

- We are constantly restructuring care. They are cutting back on the planned operations and converting departments into pandemic units as the need increases, he says.

To be able to redeploy departments, you need to both adapt the physical environment and move staff who usually have other tasks.

- Then you move staff who usually work in reception and staff with nursing education who work administratively, says Jens Raffelsberger.

Jens Raffelsberger says the region has planned based on the number of people who have needed care in China and Italy.

- We have calculated how many people we think will fall ill and how many need intensive care. And we are following that planning now.

There will be an increase in the number of people in need of care due to the corona pandemic in Östergötland, according to Jens Raffelsberger.

- Yes absolutely, it will increase a few weeks to come. We have planned for that.

You are not worried that your health care resources will not suffice?

- No, not at this time. It also depends on how many of the staff get sick. But we have also planned for that. Then we restructure in healthcare and further reduce the planned operations.

Patients who would have had surgery or started treatment are affected by this. However, emergency operations continue as usual.

- It's important to point it out, says Jens Raffelsberger.