‘All Hands on Deck’ – 13 in the Hospital with COVID-19

At yesterday’s press conference, Páll Matthíasson, CEO of Landspítali National University Hospital, stated that the burden on the hospital has gradually been increasing during this third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, mbl.is reports.

He expects the hospital to be able to meet demand, provided staffing will continue to be sufficient and as long as it will be possible to discharge all patients whose treatment has been completed to make room for COVID-19 patients.

He stated that in recent days, one COVID-19 patient on average has been hospitalized every 12 hours. The latest data show that today, 13 people are in the hospital with COVID-19.

Páll asked all available health care workers to sign up for the hospital’s reserve team. “The situation requires all hands on deck,” he stated. People with specialized skills are especially needed in the intensive care unit to ease some of the burden on the staff. Nearly 100 employees of the hospital are currently in quarantine, in addition to about 30 who are in isolation, due to COVID-19.

According to covid.is , there were 37 new confirmed domestic cases of COVID- 19 in Iceland yesterday. Less than a third of the people diagnosed, or 11 individuals, were already in quarantine when diagnosed.

The 14-day incidence of the disease per 100,000 inhabitants has reached 156.8. This is the number nations look at when determining which countries to place on their list of COVID-19 international risk areas. Yesterday, Germany added Iceland, as well as several other countries, to its list of high-risk regions.

There are currently 605 people in Iceland with an active case of COVID-19. Thirteen of them are in the hospital, including three who are in intensive care.

Mbl.is reports that two people are on ventilators and that the people who are in the hospital range in age from their 20s to their 60s. Those in intensive care are in their 50s and 60s.