Italy , hit hard by the pandemic last spring, built up intensive care capacity in anticipation of a second wave, but a recent surge in hospitalizations for patients below ICU level has caught health officials off guard. Italy had 32,047 non-critical Covid patients in its hospitals as of Sunday, more than France and double the number in Spain, whose hospital occupancy rate is below 20%. Another problem is the failure to effectively offer and manage at-home care for virus patients, Massimo Galli, director of infectious diseases at Milan’s Sacco hospital, said on SkyTg24 television. Italy is scrambling to make more beds available to virus cases, reorganizing or closing down wards normally used for other categories of treatment. Several regions in Austria, which is set to toughen its lockdown measures, have hospital occupancy rates close to 80%.

Source: Mint November 16, 2020 14:15 UTC