14.12.2020.
480 people hospitalized at the Belgrade Štark Arena
The temporary Covid hospital at the Belgrade “Štark Arena” started admitting Covid patients for treatment again on 25 October. The number of patients has been constantly increasing since it was opened a month ago.
– To date, we have admitted 1,708 patients for treatment. Currently, there are 480 patients in “Štark Arena”. They are all taken care of and they are now in a stable condition. We have discharged about 1400 people so far, 1250 have been discharged to home, and about 140 patients have been transferred to other Covid hospitals with intensive care units due to their deteriorating health conditions – says Lieutenant Colonel Predrag Bogdanović, a cardiologist, the “Štark Arena” Covid hospital’s chief medical coordinator.
According to him, patients are being treated in the same way as in other Covid hospitals. They are receiving oxygen therapy in 350 oxygen-equipped beds all of which are currently occupied.– Unlike the summer period, this time our patients have a more severe clinical presentation. These are younger people with a more severe clinical presentation and elderly patients - aged 60, 70, 80, and even 90+ - who, in addition to bilateral pneumonia, also have other chronic diseases that cause medical complications. In most cases, it is diabetes, coronary heart disease and asthma, which make their treatment even more complicated. The youngest patient we have treated is 17 years old, and the oldest patient, who is currently undergoing treatment, is 94 years old - Dr Bogdanović pointed out.
About 150 blood tests and up to 100 x-rays are performed daily in the “Štark Arena”. A part of the blood work is done at the hospital, and the other part is referred to the Clinical Hospital Centre of Serbia where specific analyses are performed.
About 60 doctors and 100 nurses work in the hospital, in eight-hour shifts. Six doctors are military health care employees working at the Military Medical Academy, and the rest are doctors and medical technicians employed at more than 20 civilian health institutions. Although the medical team is in charge of the patient's stay and treatment, non-medical staff is also involved - quartermasters, cleaning service, food delivery and other logistics that are required for the operation of such a large temporary Covid hospital.
Lieutenant Colonel Bogdanović points out that not a single health professional has been infected through direct contact with patients since the hospital in the "Štark Arena" started operating. The small number of doctors and nurses who got infected were most likely infected through contact with family members or friends, or while commuting by public transport.
– I call on all our citizens to help us health professionals prevent the spread of this infection and control the epidemic better by strictly adhering to the measures prescribed by the Covid-19 Crisis Response Team. Let's wait for some better times to socialize. Let's wait for the arrival of the vaccine, which will certainly help stop the epidemic - said Lieutenant Colonel Predrag Bogdanović.
