Noord-Holland, Flevoland hospitals scaling down regular care

Almost all hospitals in Noord-Holland and Flevoland are scaling down their regular care by 20 percent, in an attempt to provide both coronavirus care and as much regular care as possible during the second wave of Covid-19 infections, the regional consultation on acute care ROAZ said, NOS reports.

Despite the collaboration with the LCPS, the national center responsible for spreading Covid-19 patients across the hospitals in the country, the increase in Covid-19 patients means that the hospitals in Noord-Holland and Flevoland can't continue regular care at normal level.

Non-urgent appointments, operations and treatments are therefore being postponed. "We are trying to scale down 20 percent in a safe way," ROAZ chairman Yvo Roos said to NOS. "The difference with the previous wave is that it is now more controlled." Like in the first Covid-19 wave, all hospitals will still provide emergency care.

A few hospitals in the two provinces, including the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek and the Burns Center, do not have to scale down regular care as of yet.

On Monday the RIVM reported 4,581 new Covid-19 infections in the country. 810 patients were in hospital, 177 of them in intensive care.