Minister appeals to private sector as hospitals fill up

Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias appealed to the private sector on Wednesday, calling on doctors to do their part to help public hospitals and their staff cope with the pressure of rising Covid admissions.

“The health system across the country, but in Attica especially… is reaching its limits,” he said in the ministry’s daily afternoon briefing on the course of the pandemic.

“We must all support the system; there is no such thing as private or public in this struggle; we are all in it together,” he added.

According to official figures released on Wednesday, Greece’s coronavirus referral hospitals admitted 3,664 patients suffering from Covid-19 in the last 10 days alone, filling at an average rate of 389 patients a day over the week.

Admissions on Wednesday came to 476, pushing nationwide occupancy at regular Covid wards to just under 50% and at intensive care units to 67%.

The trend is rising, meanwhile, as Tuesday’s admissions were 443, Monday’s 390 and Sunday’s 337, though Saturday was also a bad day with 429 admissions. On February 28, meanwhile, 259 Covid patients were admitted to Greece’s referral hospitals.

“In the past few days, we have seen the equivalent of a 200-bed hospital filling up with Covid-19 patients in a single emergency shift,” Kikilias said.