The hospitals have their hands full to care for seriously ill corona patients. At the same time, the intensive care units are at the limit. The bottleneck is always the staff, since a lot more nurses are needed. And that costs.
As the «Basler Zeitung» now reports, these costs even increased in the fourth wave. The Basel-Stadt health department has calculated that the treatment of intensive care patients in the first waves of the pandemic resulted in costs of around CHF 87,000 on average. But the Basel University Hospital has come to different numbers: In the current fourth wave, a corona patient in intensive care costs an average of 100,000 francs.
Because they are likely to be treated for longer: “Those who come to the intensive care unit are on average 25 days in the hospital and cost over 100,000 francs,” says University Hospital spokesman Nicolas Drechsler. The biggest item is the staff, but there is also the fact that a very high standard of hygiene is necessary.
Every third patient needs intensive care
In addition, because of the more aggressive Delta variant, proportionally more people get so sick that they need intensive care. Around a third of those hospitalized also end up in intensive care. That, too, has changed compared to the previous pandemic waves. The ratio between those who receive normal inpatient treatment and those who end up in intensive care has even doubled.
According to the «Basler Zeitung», the majority of the sick come from Balkan countries. And without exception everyone in the university hospital is not vaccinated. Coupled with the low vaccination rate across Switzerland, this development is causing hospitals to worry, especially with a view to autumn. (gbl)