We have implemented an interesting approach to prevent hospitals to be overwhelmed with #COVID19 cases in The Netherlands. This may be useful for others to consider. It is based on spreading of the burden of disease for hospitalized cases over larger areas.
As we have observed in China and Italy, COVID-19 often present in hotspots while other areas are affected less severe. In The Netherlands the first case was found on February 29 in the Province of Brabant (2.5 million inhabitants). On March 15 we had 24 people who had died from COVID on a National level and 21 originated from Brabant. Hospitals in this area were seeing an increasing amount of cases and prepared for larger numbers.
Based on a mathematical model that estimated the number of infected people based on recent deaths it was anticipated that the number of cases would soon be too high for the local hospital and especially the ICU’s.