Overwhelmed Public Hospitals Poised to Stop Admitting COVID Patients

Israeli public hospitals sounded the alarm on Sunday as coronavirus cases overwhelmed emergency rooms.

The chiefs of the seven public hospitals warned that they would no longer be able to admit COVID-19 patients as of Monday because of the lack of resources and space.

The hospital administrators convened a special press conference and said that the ongoing pandemic has all but depleted their capacity to maintain normal operations when it comes to handling the onslaught of COVID-19 patients.

“We have been left to our devices in the midst of this crisis,” Prof. Ofer Merin, the general director of Shaare Zedek Medical Center, said. “The government has reached an agreement with us but did not implement any of its provisions. The state should be ashamed of itself.”

He further lamented that “over the past 18 months, we have been working 24/7 to save Israel, overextending our staff during the four coronavirus waves in order to save this country. We are not holding this press conference as a means of going on strike or as a form of demonstration, we are just saying this loud and clear: We have no equipment, we have no more resources to treat patients.”