Towering omikrone peak does not lead to large crowds on Dutch ICs
The sky-high infection rates in the Netherlands do not currently lead to great crowds in the intensive care units. The situation in the hospitals looks different than during the previous winter peak. While the occupancy in regular nursing wards has been rising for more than a week, the occupancy in the IC is still showing a downward trend. During previous waves, IC occupancy followed the trend of the nursing wards much more quickly, but this time this relationship has decoupled. Partly because of this, the current IC occupancy is currently three times lower than the previous peak number.
In the past week, the number of covid patients in IC fell by 10 percent to 214. More new IC patients were admitted this week than last week, but because more patients were discharged, the number of occupied beds decreased. The regular corona departments have seen the number of new patients rise for almost two weeks.
The number of reported infections is currently almost eight times higher than at the previous winter peak.
Number of covid patients in Belgian intensive care units is increasing slightly
Belgium is currently the only neighboring country where the omikron wave is leading to a clear increase in covid patients in intensive care units. The Belgian health authorities expect IC occupancy to decrease again in the course of February. The peak in infection rates was reached last week, and the increase in new admissions also appears to be slowing down. France and Germany, which were still dealing with a delta wave in the hospital before the emergence of omikron, are seeing a stabilization in the intensive care unit. IC figures show a clear decline in the United Kingdom and Denmark. Both countries recently released almost all corona measures.