SHARE
COPY LINK

COVID-19

Danish hospitals reduce Covid-19 beds as admissions decline

The number of people hospitalised with Covid-19 in Denmark has increased significantly since December, enabling hospitals to begin reducing capacity for patients with the virus.

Danish hospitals reduce Covid-19 beds as admissions decline
File photo: Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix

As of February 1st, 544 people are admitted to hospital in Denmark with coronavirus. That figure is significantly lower than at the peak of the second wave, when it exceeded 900 in late December and topped at 964 on January 4th.

The Greater Copenhagen region currently has 360 beds for coronavirus patients but is expected to reduce that number in the immediate future to 300 or 240.

“The combination of low infection numbers and falling admission numbers have convinced us that wave two is subsiding,” Kristian Antonsen, the acting head of the Frederiksberg and Bispebjerg hospitals, told news wire Ritzau.

The daily total of confirmed new cases of Covid-19 have been under 1,000 consistently since mid-January. Monday saw a total of 488 new cases registered. The test positivity rate is under 1 percent.

That compares to daily new infections ranging between 3,500-4,500 in mid-December, with the test positivity rate at 2.4-3.5 percent.

Antonsen said that the Greater Copenhagen region was now returning to the original form of its contingency plan for coping with patient numbers. The plan was extended as the winter wave of the virus worsened.

Aarhus University Hospital also confirmed that it has reduced its number of Covid-19 beds to 26 as of Monday. That number had previously been increased to 40.

“We are reducing number of beds because we are seeing fewer hospitalisations per day, and the overall number of inpatients has fallen,” said senior consultant Lars Østergaard of the infectious diseases department at the hospital.

Østergaard noted that capacity could be increased should the need return – for example, if the more infectious B117 variant causes a new wave of hospitalisations.

READ ALSO: Denmark extends Covid-19 lockdown until March

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

COVID-19

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

Sweden's Public Health Agency is recommending that those above the age of 80 should receive two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine a year, once in the spring and once in the autumn, as it shifts towards a longer-term strategy for the virus.

Public Health Agency recommends two Covid doses next year for elderly

In a new recommendation, the agency said that those living in elderly care centres, and those above the age of 80 should from March 1st receive two vaccinations a year, with a six month gap between doses. 

“Elderly people develop a somewhat worse immune defence after vaccination and immunity wanes faster than among young and healthy people,” the agency said. “That means that elderly people have a greater need of booster doses than younger ones. The Swedish Public Health Agency considers, based on the current knowledge, that it will be important even going into the future to have booster doses for the elderly and people in risk groups.” 

READ ALSO: 

People between the ages of 65 and 79 years old and young people with risk factors, such as obesity, diabetes, poor kidney function or high blood pressure, are recommended to take one additional dose per year.

The new vaccination recommendation, which will start to apply from March 1st next year, is only for 2023, Johanna Rubin, the investigator in the agency’s vaccination programme unit, explained. 

She said too much was still unclear about how long protection from vaccination lasted to institute a permanent programme.

“This recommendation applies to 2023. There is not really an abundance of data on how long protection lasts after a booster dose, of course, but this is what we can say for now,” she told the TT newswire. 

It was likely, however, that elderly people would end up being given an annual dose to protect them from any new variants, as has long been the case with influenza.

SHOW COMMENTS