UPDATE/HealthMin Tataru: We have about 1,390 beds in ICU; another 280 to be operationalised

Minister of Health Nelu Tataru said that another 280 intensive care beds will be operationalised in 24 hospitals in the next period. "We have a number of around 1,390 beds in intensive care, we have 1,132 patients in intensive care, we still have 280 more beds from 24 hospitals under operationalisation, which takes between 7 and 21 days," Tataru said on Sunday after visiting the Fundeni Clinical Institute alongside President Klaus Iohannis. The Health minister specified there is a partial assessment of the deficiencies found in hospitals. "We have some partial results in which both we, and those from ISU [ the Emergency Situations Inspectorate] or ANMDMR [the National Agency for Medicines and Medical Devices in Romania], depending on the deficiency found, we established a compliance program and we will have the assessment in another 14 days. (...) We are talking about the evaluation of each circuit in the ICUs handled by the Ministry of Health through the State Inspection, the minister will make a separate report on everything that means electrical circuits, as well as what ANMDMR will do for equipment and gas circuits," Tataru said. The minister mentioned that he was informed on Sunday morning about the fire at the CFR Hospital in Cluj and indicated that those who own departmental hospitals must conduct the same assessments as the Ministry of Health. Nelu Tataru specified that the situation of intensive beds is dynamic. "In Bucharest, at the moment, we have six additional beds at Sfanta Maria Hospital, eight beds at Cantacuzino Hospital, 30 intensive care beds and 30 intermediate therapy beds at Monza Metropolitan Hospital and we are reevaluating the other structures that can adapt the intensive care beds," said the Minister of Health. According to him, the transfer of patients abroad is being considered, should the need arise. "I hope we don't get to that moment, as we are re-evaluating everything that intensive care means, but should the need arise we will take this into account as well. As you know, at the level of the European Community, there is a mechanism for transfer if we no longer have this capacity. Throughout this pandemic, there have been these transfers of patients to neighboring or remote counties when there was need for intensive care beds," Nelu Tataru added. As regards the case definition, the Health minister showed that it is being re-evaluated, and there will be other changes next week. AGERPRES (RO - author: Florentina Peia, editor: Georgiana Tanasescu; EN - editor: Simona Iacob)