Lack of beds and medical supplies, force doctors choose who to cure and let go

In Lombardy, the wealthy region at the heart of Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, a shortage of beds and medical supplies is forcing doctors to make increasingly difficult choices.

As the number of infected keeps rising, POLITICO reports that hospitals are scrambling to increase the number of beds available in intensive care units.  Some have closed entire wards to dedicate them to severe coronavirus cases. Others have transformed operating rooms into intensive care units. Doctors are working grueling shifts to cover for colleagues who fall ill.

“It is a fact that we will have to choose [whom to treat] and this choice will be entrusted to individual operators on the ground who may find themselves having ethical problems,” said a doctor working in one of Milan’s largest hospitals.

Lombardy has some 900 beds available for patients needing intensive care, but in some provinces, particularly in Bergamo, Lodi and Pavia, hospitals are “near saturation,” the doctor said.

Meanwhile, TgCOM reports that the average age of the patients of the CoVid 19 being treated in Italy is 69, with 5% to 7% are under 30.

Via POLITICO