Hospitals do not have enough ICU capacity to cope with a large Delta outbreak, which health experts say underlines the need for an alert level 4 lockdown. Last year New Zealand ranked near the bottom of the OECD for per-capita ICU capacity, but since then the Ministry of Health says the number of available ICU-capable ventilators has more than doubled. But that didn't mean hospitals' ICU units could handle more patients, according to ICU doctor Craig Carr, who is the New Zealand regional chair of the Australia NZ Intensive Care Society. Nor was it ideal to have one ICU nurse looking after several patients, he said. "You get to the point of what Italy had with lots of patients on ventilators, but they weren't being looked after by an ICU nurse or doctor.

Source: Otago Daily Times August 18, 2021 08:48 UTC