Ostfold Hospital, Corona | The hospital raises its readiness:

On Monday at 2 p.m., Sykehuset Østfold was placed on green alert, the hospital wrote in a press release. The reason is the large influx of patients who need to isolate infections, and the pressure this entails on room capacity.

– Now extraordinary measures need to be introduced, says Managing Director Hege Gissing.

Appointments may be postponed

Lifting the state of emergency means that the hospital will make more beds available for patients who need immediate help, and get resources for that from the planned business.

This may mean that patients who have a regular appointment, such as a follow-up examination, may have their appointment postponed. If you have a hospital appointment, you should show up as normal unless you’ve been told otherwise by us, Gjessing says.

Østfold Hospital had seen an influx of patients for several weeks. This was handled under normal operations.

On Monday morning, the hospital had 50 more patients than the normal number of beds. There were 24 patients enrolled with influenza and 28 patients with COVID-19.

The large number of patients who need to be isolated now requires new measures. At the same time, there is a high rate of sick absenteeism (10.35 percent) among hospital workers.

Introduces more visit restrictions

Preparedness also goes beyond the possibility of visiting patients at bedposts.

– We have a lot of patients who have to lie in the corridors, and there is a lot of infection in the community. With fewer visits, Gissing says, we’ll reduce the risk of infection in the hospital.

Visits must be pre-agreed with the relevant 24-hour district.

Haig Gissing also states that all hospital visitors with symptoms of respiratory infections should use a mask in the future.