The so-called third wave looks to be significantly worse than the second.

Although the number of people dying with covid-19 has fallen sharply, thanks to vaccinations, the number of patients cared for in intensive care (IVA) continues to increase and is now more than when it was at its worst last winter.

"Very strained"

Late Monday afternoon, 416 patients were cared for due to covid-19 in the country's intensive care units, compared with about 390 at the beginning of January.

In the last few days alone, about 20 patients have been added.

- It looks a little different across the country, but in some places the situation is very strained right now and we do not see that it has started to turn downwards, says Johnny Hillgren, intensive care physician and responsible for the intensive care register.

TT: Where's it worst right now?

- It's in central Sweden.

Uppsala-Örebro, Dalarna and Gävleborg.

Tired staff

The big problem with creating new intensive care units, he says, is not the site as such or the medical equipment either, for that matter, but the staff.

- Intensive care is very staff-intensive, says Johnny Hillgren.

As before, a clear majority (71 percent) of those receiving intensive care due to covid-19 men and the median age of patients are 63 years, conditions that have hardly changed at all since the pandemic started.

A year ago, during the first wave, most patients were treated at IVA at the end of April, when almost 560 patients received intensive care due to covid-19.

Thereafter, the number decreased gradually, albeit slowly.

- It was really only in the middle of the summer that there was a calm in the intensive care units, says Johnny Hillgren.

Increased further

From the illness until you need intensive care, it takes an average of 10.9 days.

The coating that exists today thus reflects the spread of infection eleven days ago.

After that, however, the spread of infection has continued to increase, the Public Health Agency announced last week.

There is thus a risk that the pressure on the intensive care units due to covid-19 may increase further.

- The uncertainty is great, but hopefully we are at the top of the third wave now, but as I said. We do not know, says Johnny Hillgren.