With the UK Prime Minister possibly lifting the lockdown in a week, on the 18th this May to be exact, what measures must we maintain if the country will have rebound cases of admissions? Maybe the worst scenario will be if the admissions will exceed the peak of severe cases in February to March.
To create beds in UK, the solution before was the creation of ITU extension wards in all hospitals plus the renovation of Excel building, becoming the Nightingale Hospital in London with 4,000 ITU beds.
From April till May, we see less ITU Admissions in our hospital. Most of the #CoVid19 patients were admissions from March to April. One of our emergency crew was saying last April that they probably were having 2 or 3 admissions with CoVid19 symptoms. Our hospital kept our emergency services during the pandemic. But with no elective cases, the concern is the less income it have generated from end of February.
Although there have been talks recently of converting those ITU extension wards to previous functions, so far our hospital's set-up remains the same as during the pandemic.
In my opinion, it's better to remain that way till we know where we stand after removing the #lockdown. We would have more ITU beds than before the pandemic where all hospitals were overwhelmed and lacking. The initial plan of herd immunity sounds good in theory, but implementing the lockdown was to prevent the projected high mortality that could have happened if implemented.
Who knows if that was the right thing to do or not in controlling the pandemic?
Considering that Sweden or Taiwan did not have lockdowns with less mortality. Greece implemented a lockdown with also less mortality than most countries who have lockdowns.
As we look forward to the lifting of the lockdown in UK, of course there are concerns of a possible rebound. As I've said that in the worst scenario, ITU beds again will be needed. Although our hospital remains the same set-up, some hospitals in the country have reverted their ITU extensions. In saying that, the Nightingale Hospital although was never fully utilised during the pandemic, it remains open for CoVid19 patients in London.
Measures such as a modified quarantine started last Monday, the 11th where some people are now back to work. Although social distancing is still in place, there are more people now out in the streets.
Let's wait another week if this modified quarantine will bring in more CoVid19 patients. If not, then wait after lifting the lockdown.