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European Health Officials Cast Nervous Eye at Britain's Struggling Hospitals

Jamie Dettmer

   Last April, European medical workers watched with rising horror as the
   health care system in parts of northern Italy buckled, overwhelmed by
   wave after wave of COVID-19-related patients.

   Italy was the first European country to be struck full force by the
   coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease. Its struggle with the
   virus prepared most neighboring countries to weather the first wave of
   the pandemic without their hospitals and intensive care units (ICUs)
   becoming strained to the breaking point, thanks largely to the
   imposition of lockdowns and travel bans.

   But now, hospitals across much of Europe are struggling to cope with
   the influx of seriously ill patients.

   "The bed and ICU occupancy rates are still increasing or remain high in
   many countries, and further increases may challenge health care
   capacity," warned the European Center for Disease Prevention and
   Control, a European Union agency, in its latest risk assessment.

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