Covid 19 coronavirus: Europe hit by third wave as vaccine rollout begins
24 Feb, 2021 05:32 PM
4 minutes to read
Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine: Roll out starts in Christchurch. Video / George Heard
news.com.au
By: Natalie Brown
Germany has privately declared they re in the throes of a third wave of Covid-19, amid fears several other European countries are headed down the same path.
As the vaccine rollout begins, health authorities in the Netherlands, Sweden, Ukraine and Greece have also reported spikes in new coronavirus infections.
Late last year, the World Health Organisation s (WHO) special Covid-19 envoy warned of such an event, predicting Europe could face a third wave of the pandemic if governments repeated the mistakes that had led to the second.
In the Czech Republic, the rise of COVID-19 patients is intensifying the pressure at hospitals. The Health Ministry describes the situation as critical with more than 120,000 active cases at the moment.
The regional hospital in Karlovy-Vary in West Bohemia receives covid patients from the surrounding area, including from badly hit regions of Cheb and Sokolov. The intensive care unit is now almost full to capacity.
“This morning we had six beds left in the ICU ward but this number could change in an hour and in two hours everything can change again,” said Vladislav Podracky, Spokesperson, Karlovy Vary Hospital.
The situation is not about to improve any time soon. The doctors, as well as nurses and all the medical staff, are exhausted.
Germany has privately declared they re in the throes a third wave of COVID-19, amid fears several other European countries are headed down the same path. As the vaccine rollout begins, health authorities in the Netherlands, Sweden, Ukraine and Greece have also reported spikes in new coronavirus infections. Late last year, the World Health Organisation s (WHO) special COVID-19 envoy warned of such an event, predicting Europe could face a third wave of the pandemic if governments repeated the mistakes that had led to the second. (Government s) missed building up the necessary infrastructure during the summer months, after they brought the first wave under the control, the WHO s David Nabarro said in an interview with Swiss newspaper
Prague: The Czech Republic is reaching capacity in intensive care wards as coronavirus infections keep soaring in the EU s worst-hit country, the health ministry said Tuesday.
The country tops the world in terms of new infections per 100,000 people over the last 14 days and is second after neighbouring Slovakia for deaths, according to an AFP tally.
The government, which tamed the spread during the first wave early last year, has been grappling with recurrent upswings since the summer of 2020 in the country of 10.7 million people. We re getting close to running out of intensive care capacity, Deputy Health Minister Vladimir Cerny told reporters, blaming a lack of qualified staff in the first place.
Czech hospitals are running out of intensive care capacity due to the high incidence of coronavirus in the country, AFP reported. "In no way can we maintain the current standards of healthcare. The system as a whole is close to its limit," deputy health m.