At a time when the Portuguese health service is said to be at the ‘brink of collapse’ (click here), the Algarve University Hospital Board (CHUA) has revealed that the region’s public hospitals are operating at 80% of their capacity for Covid-19 patients.
“We have not reached full capacity. We still have some room. But we will have to increase our capacity so that the time does not come when we have no vacancies,” CHUA board president Ana Castro told Correio da Manhã.
The field hospital set up at Portimão Arena has helped keep the situation under control by receiving patients from hospitals in the Algarve as well as the rest of the country.
“We have 100 beds (at Portimão Arena) and 20 of them are occupied,” she told the tabloid.
“We have been contacted by units with the most difficulties. We currently have patients here from the Vila Franca de Xira, Montijo and Beatriz Ângelo hospitals,” said Castro.
