The dramatic situation in the Upper Austrian hospitals, but also in the old people’s homes, has recently brought about a noticeable increase in politics: Governor Thomas Stelzer (ÖVP) appealed on Tuesday to be vaccinated out of solidarity with the overburdened hospital staff. Environment Minister Stefan Kaineder went out to refute the circulating fake news about vaccine serum in drinking water and the city of Linz took action against demo participants in the care area.
In Upper Austria, 122 patients were in intensive care units on Tuesday – 98 (80.3 percent) of them were not fully immunized. There were 572 patients on the normal wards, of whom 342 (59.8 percent) are not fully immunized. In the old people’s homes, 174 residents and 309 employees in 98 facilities are currently Corona-positive. The city of Linz has closed a senior center due to a cluster of 37 infected people. Visits – with the exception of palliative patients – are prohibited.
The increase from level 3a, which provides for 127 intensive care beds and 600 normal beds for corona cases, to level 4 (157 intensive care beds and 750 normal beds) is in preparation, according to the crisis team. A transfer of patients to other federal states is currently not taking place. One did not want to talk about triage at first, but numerous operations have to be postponed, “and that too is a kind of triage”, as the medical director of the Linz Kepler University Hospital, Karl-Heinz Stadlbauer, on the sidelines of a corona symposium on Tuesday in Linz said.
“Think of everyone who is currently in the intensive care unit, think of the staff in the hospitals who fight for life to the point of exhaustion. Think of all those who are now waiting for an important operation. Think in solidarity and act in solidarity, “said Stelzer into the conscience of the Upper Austrians. “Please go to the vaccination and help save lives – now!”
Stelzer emphasized that the way to vaccination is of course also possible in lockdown and excluded from the existing exit restrictions. The registration-free pop-up vaccinations in shopping centers will also continue – despite the closure of most of the shops there. In addition, by the end of December, more than 17,000 free appointments would be available for booking on the vaccination streets.
The Green Provincial Council Stefan Kaineder warned against crude claims that would be circulating via WhatsApp, according to which the drinking water in Upper Austria “contains a kind of Pfizer’s gene poison” – probably meaning the vaccine serum – in order to reach the unvaccinated. Kaineder sharply rejected this “fake news” and appealed to “obtain information from reputable media and critically question unsecured information”. The drinking water in Upper Austria is “of the highest quality” and one of the “most controlled foods”.
The city of Linz took action on Tuesday against three employees of the city old people’s homes who had demonstrated against the compulsory vaccination on behalf of their facility at a Coronademo over the weekend in Vienna. You have separated from them or this step is on the way.
The SPÖ warned that 37 percent of the 333 mobilizable beds were already occupied, which meant a very high systemic risk. NEOS once again requested a letter with a fixed vaccination date to all eligible Upper Austrians. After all, that also works with the position.