Ten percent of doctors, nurses now on sick leave

One in ten hospital employees is currently sick at home. Absenteeism in intensive care has risen to almost 10 percent. Nine percent of employees on the nursing wards can't work. Ernst Kuipers, chairman of the National Acute Care Network (LNAZ), said this in parliament on Wednesday.

In September, just before the current coronavirus wave, over 6 percent of doctors and nurses were on sick leave.

Kuipers also said that the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals would likely rise to above 3,200 in the next two weeks. Hospitals are currently treating over 2,800 people for Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

The National Coordination Center for Patient Distribution (LCPS) calculated three scenarios. In the most favorable case, the number of coronavirus patients in nursing wards will rise from over 2,200 now to 2,430 in mid-December. In that case, the intensive care units would treat about 780 people, compared to about 600 now. This would mean that a total of 3,210 hospital beds would be occupied by people with Covid-19.

If the current growth continues, a slightly less favorable scenario, the number of admitted patients will rise to about 3,700 in the coming weeks, including 900 in intensive care units. In the worst-case scenario, if the influx increases, the number of coronavirus patients in hospitals would rise to almost 4,500.

Kuipers expects that the latest corona measures will help lower the virus's reproduction number to below 1. In that case, the number of new cases would gradually decrease. In the long run, fewer patients would end up in hospitals.