Hospitals Under Extreme Pressure Despite Decline in COVID Infections

Hospitals across the country are operating past their capacity, despite the waning of new COVID cases. Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Yerushalayim is at 104% capacity, with 185 patients hospitalized with the coronavirus, 74 of whom are in serious condition and 15 on ventilators. There are 146 people hospitalized with the virus at Hadassah Medical Center in the capital, 84 of whom are in serious condition. Forty-eight patients are hospitalized with the virus at Herzog Medical Center in Yerushalayim, six of whom are on ventilators and 21 of whom are in serious condition.

Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in Ramat Gan is at 103% capacity. Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod is operating at 103% capacity.

Dr. Ariel Rokach, a senior physician at Shaare Zedek’s Pulmonary Institute, told Yisrael Hayom, “The pressure on hospitals is extreme. The current wave is at its peak, and in the media, the impression is that the fifth wave is behind us and we can carry on. From tonight, the Green Pass will expire in most places, and this will create dangerous complacency.”

Rokach said that “despite the decline in infections, there are still around 50,000 confirmed cases each day, so we do not expect a significant decline in the severe pressure on hospitals in the coming 10 days. Staff is dealing with death daily, which is an inseparable part of the coronavirus ward. We should note that a majority of seriously ill patients are not properly vaccinated. This creates frustration among hospital staff, who know a significant portion of morbidity was preventable. Today it is clear that the vaccination of over half a million senior citizens in Israel did not prevent infection but did significantly diminish the number of seriously ill patients and death.”

He said Israel would likely see a decrease in serious illness toward the end of February and that the public’s conduct would play a decisive role.

“We cannot be complacent,” he said, calling for continued masking and vaccination. “The expiration of the Green Pass does not mean we can remove our masks… Antigen testing in the education system and vaccination save lives.”

At the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, 115 people are hospitalized with the coronavirus, 59 of whom are in serious condition and 17 of whom are in critical condition. The hospital currently has four coronavirus wards, all of which are full, and two smaller wards.

Galilee Medical Center Director Masad Barhoum told Yisrael Hayom that “due to the increase in coronavirus morbidity in the Galilee, the [medical] teams have been instructed to convert all the rehabilitation wards for use by coronavirus patients. The significance of this is that the only rehabilitation ward of its kind in the Galilee will be completely closed.”

Barhoum said, “To date, two internal medicine departments have been converted for COVID use, and so we are left with just four internal medicine wards in the winter season when many patients who suffer from winter morbidities like the flu and pneumonia come to us. All of the internal medicine wards and intensive care units are at 130% to 140% capacity. We don’t see it at the hospital. The coronavirus impacts the entire hospital, although right now, elective activity, including operations, hasn’t been harmed, and I hope it stays that way.”

Dr. Avi Weissman, deputy director of the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, told Yisrael Hayom: “We were at a peak of 150 patients, but today we have 110 and hope this is a sign of things to come. From a mortality standpoint, this is unfortunately a very high mortality rate. The average of the deceased is 80. A majority of seriously ill patients are hospitalized with serious symptoms due to the coronavirus and not hospitalized with the coronavirus. Although  omicron attacks the upper respiratory tract, we see very serious pneumonia, as we see with delta and alpha.”