Noord-Brabant ICs warn minister in urgent letter: 'Not able able to keep this up much longer'

A group of doctors from various hospitals in Noord-Brabant has written an urgent letter about the situation in intensive cares. The doctors warn that "the Dutch population does not seem to realize how close we are currently to the moment when our IC capacity is reached."

The letter, signed by ten IC doctors from hospitals in Brabant and one in Weert (Limburg), states that the workload in intensive care has "been enormous for months" and that hospital staff indicate that "they will not be able to keep this up much longer."

The intensivists call on Health Minister Hugo de Jonge and chairman of the LNAZ, the Dutch network for acute care, Ernst Kuipers, to "prepare with us for the scenarios that will arise if we can actually no longer provide care." The letter is dated Friday, April 23.

The cabinet announced a series of relaxation of the corona measures last Tuesday, such as a partial opening of the terraces and the cancellation of the curfew. In the days that followed, the number of new corona infections rose, and on Thursday, the number of corona patients on the ICs experienced the largest increase in two weeks.

On Saturday, the number of corona patients in hospitals dropped sharply for the first time in a long time. This decrease provides "some relief from the pressure," the letter states.