Hospitals are filling up: beds occupied by covid patients grow in 10 communities
Those admitted double in Madrid, the Balearic Islands, La Rioja or Castilla-La Mancha in three weeks. Severe patients already occupy 25% of the ICUs in Spain as a whole, according to the data collected by EL PAÍS
There are more and more patients with covid-19 in hospitals. In Madrid, the infected already occupy 17% of the beds , 8 points more than three weeks ago, in the Balearic Islands 13% (+8), in La Rioja 10% (+8) and Castilla-La Mancha 10% ( +7). In these four communities the occupation is going faster, but except in Catalonia and Aragon, it is growing everywhere.
Evolution of the percentage of beds occupied by Covid patients
Madrid
Balearics
Aragon
fifteen%
5%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Basque Country
C. La Mancha
The Rioja
fifteen%
5%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
03 Sep
Murcia
C. Leon
Navarre
fifteen%
5%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
03 Sep
Andalusia
C. Valenciana
Canary Islands
fifteen%
5%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
03 Sep
Catalonia
Cantabria
Galicia
fifteen%
5%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
03 Sep
Asturias
Estremadura
fifteen%
5%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Source: Ministry of Health
Revenues have been increasing since July, although it is only since August 20 that occupation information has been published in the daily reports of the Ministry of Health. In those three weeks, the occupancy with Covid-19 patients reported by the hospitals themselves has gradually risen to go, for the whole of Spain as a whole, from 4% to 7%. These figures include patients with a confirmed infection and those with a clinical picture highly compatible with the virus. To which we must add all the daily income of a hospital.
They are less income than in March. And surely many patients are less serious than then, but admissions to Intensive Care Units are growing at the same rate: an estimate by EL PAÍS based on official data indicates that La Rioja, Madrid, the Balearic Islands and Aragon have around 30% of their critically ill beds filled with coronavirus positives. In Murcia it is feared that they will fill up in 15 days . In the national group, 25% of beds of this type are already occupied by covid-19 patients.
The most worrying data are from the communities that combine a negative trend and an already quite high occupation, such as Madrid, the Balearic Islands, Castilla-La Mancha and La Rioja. In the capital , operations are being suspended and patients are referred . There are also very sensitive differences between hospitals: the Infanta Leonor, in the Puente de Vallecas district, would have 50% of its beds occupied by covid patients, according to data released by a group of doctors on Twitter and confirmed with hospital sources by this newspaper. It is one of the areas with the worst incidence: in the last two weeks 1% of the entire population has tested positive. Occupancy is also over 30% at the Infanta Sofía (San Sebastián de los Reyes) and Infanta Cristina (Parla) hospitals. In large hospitals in the capital, such as October 12 or Gregorio Marañón, occupancy is around 20%.
In Castilla-La Mancha, occupancy has gone from 3% to 9% in three weeks. It is still a low percentage, but professionals are concerned about the pace. The total number of people hospitalized has gone from 120 to 325. "We receive less serious cases than in March, they are treated more easily, but we are concerned about the trend of these weeks," explains José Luis Jiménez, from the Union of Doctors of Castilla-La Stain. "The greatest pressure is in the emergency room, because with primary care that is not enough, many patients jump directly to the hospital."
The Basque Country has the fourth highest occupation, almost 12%. The incidence of the virus remains high in its three provinces, but the pace at which new arrivals appear to be slowing down. In addition, the cases are less serious, at least for the moment: "The host is younger and with fewer associated diseases, and is treated by an overloaded but not saturated system", explains Gonzalo Tamayo, specialist in anesthesiology and resuscitation at the Hospital Las Cruces de Bilbao.
Aragon seems to have controlled the summer outbreak that forced him to impose the first restrictions of the new normal. The occupation of its hospitals is around 14%, but contrary to what happens in almost all of Spain, there the pressure does not increase but is reduced. It is the same as we see in Catalan hospitals, which have had around 5% occupancy since the end of August, after suffering one of the first rebounds.
In the rest of the communities it is smaller, but it grows. In Murcia, Andalusia and the Canary Islands, the beds occupied by covid patients have doubled in the last three weeks and exceeded 5%. Castilla y León, Comunidad Valenciana and Navarra also surpass this percentage.
ICUs also fill up
The other worrying fact is the situation of the ICUs. The rooms have been filled with covid patients at the same rate as conventional plants. Although the ministry does not report occupation in this case, we have estimated it by taking the number of covid patients admitted to the ICU - which are reported - and the total number of beds available before the pandemic. This will not include beds that have been added, for example for de-escalation, but they are a rough reference to measure hospital stress from critically ill patients.
Evolution of the percentage of ICU beds by Covid patients
Aragon
Murcia
Madrid
60%
twenty%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
C. La Mancha
Balearics
The Rioja
60%
twenty%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Basque Country
Catalonia
Canary Islands
60%
twenty%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
C. Leon
Navarre
C. Valenciana
60%
twenty%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Cantabria
Estremadura
Andalusia
60%
twenty%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Galicia
Asturias
60%
twenty%
Aug 20
03 Sep
Aug 20
03 Sep
Source: Ministry of Health
In Madrid, the Balearic Islands or La Rioja, occupation is growing rapidly and threatens to exceed 50% of the initial beds. Also in Murcia: "The hospitals are filling up," warns María José Campillo, family doctor and spokesperson for the Murcia Medical Union. "We have an occupation similar to the peak of the state of alarm, which did not collapse here, but we are concerned because we are not at the peak of this second wave." The Minister of Health has ensured that, at the current rate, Murcia's ICUs will be full in 15 days . There are centers already on the edge, such as Rafael Méndez de Lorca - one of the large municipalities in Spain with the highest incidence - which has its 14 ICU beds occupied with coronavirus patients.
In the rest of the communities the occupation also grows, around 20% in the majority. In places like Aragon or Catalonia, with outbreaks already controlled, the ICUs are not losing pressure. This is a threat: the most seriously ill patients need weeks to leave the ICUs, they leave very slowly, so that a slow but constant trickle of arrivals can end up filling the acute beds of any hospital.
