Belgium has again asked Germany to take over seriously ill corona patients. There is hardly any room left in intensive care units of Belgian hospitals.

The number of infections in Belgium has not been increasing for a while, but it remains high. Hospitals have been overcrowded since October, and staff are dropping out due to the continuing care overload. This means they can take in even fewer patients.

The situation is precarious, says responsible senior civil servant Marcel Van der Auwera. Conditions like in Italy last year during the first wave of the epidemic, when doctors had to choose between patients, are “not far off”, he says.

Of the 2,000 ic beds, there are now about eighty left, says Van der Auwera. There is no longer any place in several hospitals. If a fire or accident causes many victims, they may not be left with any beds. That almost went wrong on Monday after a major fire in the Brussels district of Anderlecht. “It was difficult. We did the puzzle.”

Germany has promised to take in patients indeed if necessary, says Van der Auwera.