Prediction of hospital bed capacity during the COVID− 19 pandemic

Background Prediction of the necessary capacity of beds by ward type (e.g. ICU) is essential for planning purposes during epidemics, such as the COVID− 19 pandemic. The COVID− 19 taskforce within the Ghent University hospital made use of ten-day forecasts on the required number of beds for COVID− 19 patients across different wards. Methods The planning tool combined a Poisson model for the number of newly admitted patients on each day with a...