Festive Covid outbreaks lead to panic as health staff shortages rise

Festive COVID outbreaks are leading to panic as health staff shortages rise at hospitals in Spain.

Christmas dinners and weekend getaways have become a cause for concern at companies as the numbers of their employees infected with COVID are rising rapidly. But in the case of hospitals, this situation is causing panic and chaos as health professionals test positive and need to stay home despite the increasing number of patients.

This Thursday, December 17, it was revealed that at the Hospital Severo Ochoa de Leganés, 32 health professionals had become infected with COVID following a rural getaway during the long weekend at the start of December to a house with more than 50 people.

At the Hospital Universitario Fundación Alarcón, five resident doctors who took part in a celebration together tested positive. At the Hospital Gómez Ulla de Madrid, there have also been several people infected after a Christmas dinner held among workers from the hospital.

At the Hospital Clínico de Santiago de Compostela, an outbreak of coronavirus has affected two dozen employees, who attended a dinner at a well-known restaurant in the Galician capital on December 7 with more than a hundred resident doctors.

At the start of the month, almost a hundred workers from the Hospital Regional Universitario de Málaga were quarantined after testing positive for COVID following a Christmas dinner attended by 174 people.

The number of occupied beds in ICUs reached 13.92% this Thursday, now far beyond the 5% recommended by the Ministry of Health, whereas the rate of occupation remains at 2.72 for every 100,000 inhabitants.

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