A hospital in Warsaw being used to treat mainly unvaccinated COVID-19 patients has had to close its doors after reaching capacity. An ongoing surge in infections has left a number of hospitals around Poland struggling.
The Southern Hospital in Poland’s capital currently has 270 patients, of whom 42 are on ventilators. After preparations ahead of a predicted fourth wave, the hospital last week reported having 260 Covid beds and 40 ventilator beds available – the latter being the most of any facility in the country.
Yesterday, after the hospital reached and then exceeded that capacity, the mayor’s office suspended the intake of new patients. Speaking to Polsat News, deputy health minister Waldemar Kraska said the hospital was “practically full”.
Last week, Warsaw deputy mayor Renata Kaznowska noted that the majority of patients being treated at the hospital are unvaccinated and that 90% of deaths recorded there are of unvaccinated people. She urged people to get the jab, which “enormously increases the chances of survival”.
In Warsaw itself, vaccination rates are among the highest in Poland, with almost 70% of residents fully vaccinated. But most patients at the hospital are from areas surrounding the capital, where vaccination rates are lower, noted Kraska.
“Inhabitants of Warsaw have vaccinated already and do not fall ill in such numbers,” he said, quoted by Wprost.
To further expand its capacity, the hospital has begun operating an additional fifth module with beds for infectious patients. A temporary container has also been set up outside to serve as a mortuary, providing 20 additional spaces.
“It is already partially occupied,” said Artur Krawczyk, the head of the hospital, quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza. “When I entered it yesterday and saw the corpses in white bags, I just cried.”
Last year, Poland’s healthcare system struggled to cope with a huge spike in Covid infections during the autumn. As a consequence, the country ended 2020 with the highest excess death rate in the European Union.
As Poland faces a new uptick in COVID-19 cases – with daily infection numbers recently doubling from week to week – temporary hospitals, as well as additional facilities in existing buildings, are being set up.
The 6,265 new cases reported today and the 6,274 yesterday were the highest figures since early May. Today’s health ministry data show that 5,416 of 9,986 beds for COVID-19 patients are occupied nationally as well as 449 of 979 available ventilators. There are 199,527 people in quarantine.
While Poland’s vaccine rollout initially proceeded at a similar pace to the EU average, it has since the summer fallen significantly behind amid a drop in registrations. Currently around 52% of people in Poland are fully vaccinated, compared to a figure of almost 65% for the EU as a whole.
Main image credit: Hospital CLÍNIC/Flickr (under CC BY-ND 2.0)
Maria Wilczek is deputy editor of Notes from Poland. She is a regular writer for The Times, The Economist and Al Jazeera English, and has also featured in Foreign Policy, Politico Europe, The Spectator and Gazeta Wyborcza.
