Head of the Intensive Care Unit of the Clinic for Infectious Diseases of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, Dr Matjaž Jereb, stated at a press conference that 60 percent of all hospitalised people in the regular wards are unvaccinated, and in the intensive care unit, the share of unvaccinated patients is as high as 80 percent. “If we had a higher vaccination rate, we would not be facing the numbers we have today,” he pointed out. Epidemiologist Dr Mario Fafangel, who believes that if the risk of infection and hospitalisation was the same as with those vaccinated for the entire population, the Slovenian healthcare system would be able to hold under pressure, agrees with Jereb. However, the left-wing opposition, especially the Social Democrats party (SD), is not worried about this – their members continue to indifferently call for protests, even though we have a record number of infections in the country and, unfortunately, a high increase in the number of deaths. We are approaching a number that our healthcare system will no longer be able to handle.
On Tuesday, 4,481 coronavirus infections were confirmed in Slovenia after 10,571 PCR tests were performed, the National Institute of Public Health announced. The share of positive tests was thus 42.2 percent, which is the second-highest daily increase in the number of infections to date. According to the government, 889 patients with covid are currently being treated in hospitals, which is 15 more than the day before. Of those, 191 patients require intensive care. Twenty people died, eight more than the day before. This is the highest number of recorded deaths since the 3rd of February this year, when 23 people died. The highest number of covid deaths so far was recorded on the 8th of December 2020, when 61 people died. According to the National Institute of Public Health, 1,197,399 people have already been vaccinated with at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine – that is 57 percent of the entire population, and 1,125,510 have already received all required doses so far, which represents 53,4 percent of the population.
The fact is that the situation in Slovenia is what it is due to the low vaccination rate and, of course, non-compliance with the anti-corona legislative measures. The Constitutional Court is also responsible for this with its decisions, which declare pretty much every measure unconstitutional, and we must not forget about the so-called Constitutional Arch Coalition parties as well, among which the SD party has been very active recently. The Social Democrats keep repeating that the government’s inadequate communication is to blame for everything – but they obviously believe it is entirely appropriate to call for protests, which will take place this Friday, on the 12th of November, in spite of the current situation. The protest happening on Friday will, of course, be unregistered – because why should anyone be officially responsible for it if they do not have to be? “To use Bergamo, which is currently at a 92-percent vaccination rate, as a scare tactic, without doing your homework when it comes to the vaccination rate and timely actions, is utterly irresponsible! I think that Friday’s protest will not contribute to an increase in the number of infections,” Dr Brigita Skela Savič, a prominent member of the SD party, tweeted recently and caused quite a stir with her irresponsible calls for protest on social media. However, none of the members of the SD party did anything about it; Tanja Fajon did not tweet about how worried she is – which is her usual response for any controversial situation. But it is likely that she will speak up soon, writing that they, too, are fighting against the virus and that they support the measures. Unfortunately, they are doing it in their own, “different” way.
We have already reported that, according to the Ministry of Health, Slovenian healthcare will need help from foreign doctors when more than 250 patients with covid are in the intensive care unit – and unfortunately, this number is not very far away anymore. The projection of the Jožef Stefan Institute regarding further developments of the epidemic is also far from pretty. A total of 239 covid patients are currently hospitalised at the University Medical Centre in Ljubljana; 71 of them are in the Intensive Care Unit. The youngest patient in the regular ward is 24 years old, and in the Intensive Care Unit, the youngest patient is 32. Five mothers who have recently given birth and three children are also infected with the coronavirus – two of the latter are 11 months old, and the third is two years old.
Unvaccinated individuals predominate amongst covid patients in the University Medical Centre Ljubljana. Dr Matjaž Jereb, head of the Intensive Care Unit and the Clinic for Infectious Diseases of the University Medical Centre Ljubljana, said that that 60 percent of all hospitalised people in the regular wards were unvaccinated, and in the intensive care unit, the share of unvaccinated patients is as high as 80 percent. Among the vaccinated hospitalised individuals, those who were vaccinated more than six months ago predominate. “The fact is that if we had a higher and better vaccination rate, we would not be facing the numbers we are facing. The number of patients who need hospital treatment would be manageable; I strongly believe that,” Jereb pointed out. Unvaccinated patients also predominate in the University Medical Centre Maribor, where out of 33 patients, five are fully vaccinated.
Certain medical experts believe that the current measures are not strict enough. Epidemiologist Dr Mario Fafangel is also somewhat critical of the measures, and especially of their implementation. “If you adopt a certain measure, make sure that it can also be implemented, that it can be controlled at the level you want, that stocks of certain kinds of masks are available,” Fafangel told Radio Slovenia, emphasising: “The most important thing is that the approaches that are being used are ones we have heard about many times before. They are not different from one European country to the next; we just have to implement them. But when those approaches are not enough, the only thing that can help us is pulling an emergency brake.” Fafangel also pointed out that the key to limiting the epidemic is vaccination. If the risk of infection and hospitalisation was the same as with those vaccinated for the entire population, the Slovenian healthcare system would be able to hold under pressure, he believes. “However, we know that in public healthcare, no measure will ever be 100 percent. That is why you should also have additional safeguards and recommendations,” he added.
If the predictions come true, the peak of the fourth wave of the epidemic will come at the end of this month – which also means that we will have over 250 patients in intensive care units then: “We expect that more than 1,200 covid patients will need help in our hospitals, of which more than 250 will be in intensive care units. The bottleneck will become apparent both with the regular, as well as the covid beds,” Jereb warned, stressing that the problem is not in the equipment and appliances but in the lack of suitably qualified staff. He said there is virtually no reserve here. The medical staff is exhausted, some unfortunately also get sick, and the redistribution of staff from non-covid to covid wards, which has already been partially implemented, is unfortunately not the right solution, and this cannot go on indefinitely. He also pointed out that in addition to covid patients, many patients with other acute problems also need intensive therapy.
Sara Bertoncelj
