RE-INVENTING THE INTENSIVE CARE UNITS CAPACITY IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC SECOND WAV

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic since late December 2019 has been increasingly dramatic, and the number of confirmed deaths with respect to the total infected cases has reached the rate of 5%. The principal place where the deaths of infected patients have occurred in the early phase of the outbreak is the intensive care units (ICUs). While many governments have invested and allocated resources for improving the 'ICUs capability' of their hospitals, this paper is taking another alternative perspective by focusing on the 'ICUs capacity' as a tool to accommodate for the demand or the surge being expected or experienced. Given the complexity of the complicated cases expected in ICU, and considering the respiratory illness and the challenge of contagiousness of the disease transmission, the present article is aimed at identifying strategies for enhancing and re-visiting ICU capability during the COVID19 pandemic. This is especially relevant not only considering the risk of future pandemics/outbreaks, but also given the possibility of secondary waves/relapses in late Fall-Winter 2020, after the easing and relaxing of the stringent public health measures adopted to respond to COVD19, including lockdown of entire communities and territories