Number of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients in Bucharest added 100

The number of intensive care beds in the Bucharest hospitals meant for COVID -19 patients will be supplemented by over 100, following an assessment made on Tuesday afternoon by the Minister of Health, Nelu Tataru, and the head of the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), Secretary of State Raed Arafat, informs a press release on Tuesday.

Thus, the two officials decided to locate a mobile unit with 12 ICU beds that will be used to treat patients with COVID 19 at the "Marius Nasta" Institute of Pneumology in Bucharest.

Also, the Clinical Hospital no. 1 "CF Witting" will get 10 more ICU beds for COVID-19 patients.

According to the Ministry of Health (MS), the Colentina Clinical Hospital, made fully operational by the Order of the Action Commander, to treat patients infected with SARS Cov 2, will have 29 functional ICU beds, and the Bucharest University Emergency Hospital 11 ICU beds.

Moreover, the officials decided that the emergency medical units in the Capital City, respectively the Floreasca Emergency Clinical Hospital and the "Sf. Ioan" Emergency Clinical Hospital be designated COVID support hospitals for the intensive care units, while the "Nicolae Malaxa" Clinical Hospital was designated health facility that provides medical care to patients infected with the novel coronavirus, by Order of the Action Commander.

The MS also stated that at the Floreasca Emergency Clinical Hospital, the "Sf. Ioan" Emergency Clinical Hospital and the "Nicolae Malaxa" Clinical Hospital, will get 10 more ICU beds, while the "Sf. Pantelimon" Emergency Clinical Hospital will get 20 ICU beds for coronavirus patients.

"The representatives of the public health directorate will check the way in which the separation of the circuits and the flow of patients were done at each of these medical units. The health officials are also considering to increase the treatment capacity of patients in a series of health units in Cluj, Timis, Mures and Iasi counties, but the actual decision remains will be taken after this week's assessment on the spot by the Minister of Health," according to the minister's statement, as quoted in the abovementioned press release.

According to the same source, the Minister of Health also said that the supplementation of the medical staff working in the first line of the fight against COVID-19 is also being considered.

"In this sense, we identified the legal means by which the 200 resident physicians and specialists who took the specialized examination in ICU, Emergency, epidemiology, infectious diseases, pneumology and radiology, and who do not have a job as a doctor yet, at this point, can be employed by the "Pr. Fr. Dimitrie Gerota" Emergency Hospital, after which they will be transferred to the units facing a staff shortage, by the DSU," said the MS.