Despite the government’s recent claims that there is no need for new ICU beds, the national health system is already under tremendous pressure, said SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance leader Alexis Tsipras in a Monday statement on television.
The main opposition party leader added that the government failed to make the best use of the time gained against the pandemic, while it was claiming that some 1,200 ICU beds would suffice. With some 140 intubated coronavirus patients in the Attica region alone the government now says this translates to 75%t of the total available beds, while hospitals in other regions across the country send out patients to the furthest possible available hospital, as ICU beds there are 100%t occupied, he stressed.
“Greece’s national health system is in danger of ending up a single disease treatment system, as an 80% of scheduled surgeries are being postponed in high-alert regions,” he noted.
Moreover, the government did not hire additional doctors and nursing staff, nor did it seek decongestion measures in public transport, added Tsipras, “while it also advertises hope of a coronavirus vaccine that is yet to be produced.”
“The government’s inability to act is proving near-criminal,” Tsipras underlined, “at a time when Brussels did say that Greece can spend what it needs to protect its economy and public health, on top of the 37 billion euros available in state coffers,” he pointed up.
“The government does take measures, but only after the facts,” he concluded.
