A team of researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) and CINTESIS is developing a COVID-19 risk scale to be used in hospitals of the National Health Service, starting at the Hospital Dr. Francisco Zagalo in Ovar, one of the most affected counties in the country.

The project, coordinated by Ricardo Cruz Correia, was one of the winners of the RESEARCH4COVID19 initiative and has been awarded near 30,000 euros.

“It is essential that hospitals are prepared to act proactively, in advance, before COVID-19”, warns the specialist, who is a professor at FMUP and a researcher at CINTESIS.

The objective of the project is to create a risk scale that allows determining the risk of infection with the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV2), responsible for the current pandemic. Among the parameters used for risk assessment are the number of infected persons, the severity of the cases, and the number of health professionals.

The application of this scale will make it possible to calculate the risk level at any moment, redirect teams and adjust the hospital’s capacity and supply, in a short period of time, guaranteeing the safety and quality of the care provided.

“For each level of the COVID-19 risk scale, there is a contingency plan that transforms the capacity and arrangement of the hospital offer, so as to provide better management of pandemic cases”, indicates the coordinator.

The choice of the Hospital de Ovar to be a test case is related to the existence of previous collaboration and the impact of the pandemic in this municipality, which was in a state of public calamity and with a sanitary fence for a month. The municipality reports about 660 persons infected and 35 killed by COVID-19 until the 25th of April.

The results obtained have the potential to be replicated in all NHS hospitals and internationally, with expected impacts on the preparation of institutions, on the quality of service, on reducing the burnout of health professionals, and on the production of scientific knowledge in this area.

The project has as partners the Hospital Dr. Francisco Zagalo, in Ovar, and Winning Consulting.

Photo: Martha Dominguez de Gouveia on Unsplash