“I hope that everyone is aware that any contact can be risky and that they behave accordingly. We should not underestimate the problem,” stressed the head of the intensive care unit at the Ljubljana Infectious Diseases Clinic, dr. Matjaž Jereb. He also explained that if we decided to “shut down public life”, it would not be a professional decision, as it brings quite a few consequences, but in his opinion, this is the solution to the problem.
On Wednesday, 6,215 tests were performed and 1,663 infections were confirmed. The share of positive tests was 26.67 per cent. The Gorenjska region has the highest incidence, with 759 infections per 100,000 inhabitants in 14 days. The Obalno-kraška region is still the only orange region, there the 14-day incidence is 131, the number of infections is increasing. 357 patients needed hospital care, 62 people are in the intensive care unit. Nine people died.
Currently, somewhere between 15 and 20 thousand people are actively infected
Infectologist dr. Matjaž Jereb said that there are more and more infected people every day, currently between 15 and 20 thousand citizens are actively infected. There are more and more of them in the hospital, as well as in the intensive care unit. “We are still managing the situation, we are concerned,” Jereb said. We are worried that there will not be enough beds, however, we do have backup plans on how to increase the number of beds. Additional problem is that the medical staff is ill, and there are already more than a hundred infected health workers at the Ljubljana Clinical Center. There are currently 62 people in intensive care units in Slovenia, and twenty-two in Ljubljana. The oldest patient is 85 years old and the youngest is 42 years old. There are also three children at the clinic, but the reason for hospitalization is not covid, they need hospital care due to other diseases.
“The key problem is that a high percentage of people are infected. The measures were not followed, which is also the reason why the virus is spreading fast,” Jereb said when asked what is the reason for the virus to spread among the population. Compared to the first wave, he explained, this is not another virus with greater potential, also the temperatures are not so different that this could be considered as a reason. The recommendations for the distance remain the same, 2 meters of distance are probably enough, for some activities the drops can fly further, even up to 10 meters.
The duration of intensive care depends on several factors, the doctor explained, most patients stay in the intensive care unit for two or three weeks, and some have been in the ward for more than a month and are still mechanically ventilated. They will probably be in intensive care for at least another fourteen days. Regarding the proposal of Minister Tomaž Gantar, who advocates a lockdown, Jereb said that this would not be an expert decision, as a lockdown has many consequences, but in his opinion it is a solution to the problem. Even in the first wave, the lockdown worked. “I hope that everyone is aware that any contact can be risky and that they behave accordingly. We should not underestimate the problem,” he said. He also explained that the Clinical Center plans to move the wards to Peter Držaj Hospital and provide extra beds there, as the number of patients increases. Thus, 170 beds for ordinary patients and about 50 beds for intensive care would be obtained. The infrastructure must be suitable for treatment, otherwise an alternative location is not a good solution. When there are too many patients, the elective and everything that is not necessary will be forced to stop.