Dr Alain Schmit and Dr Philippe Wilmes, president and vice-president of the AMMD, told RTL that doctors would be closing their offices within hospitals for the time being.
Some wards will remain open for patients requiring urgent treatment, on the basis that patients will clear it with their doctors prior to attending. Appointments will be mandatory for such cases.
Dr Schmit said doctors should triage patients over the telephone where possible to avoid saturating the wards, and described the situation as a health crisis the likes of which he had never encountered. According to Dr Schmit, hospitals would require a clear re-structuring to deal with the pandemic.
Dr Wilmes said the issue was striking a balance between providing adequate care to patients, while avoiding putting staff at risk. He described medical staff as the most important resource they had, and said they were taking measures to preserve the health of doctors and nurses where possible.
The pandemic is expected to peak in 10-14 days, so the measures were necessary to maintain a healthy amount of staff before patient numbers increase.
Medical staff are to be split in two groups - those in direct contact with Covid-19 patients, and those working within normal emergency departments. The groups are not to interact in any way and staff members will be held in reserve in case colleagues need to be sent home for two weeks.
Around 1,000 doctors work in hospitals across the country. They will be split accordingly and deployed at the necessary time, according to Dr Wilmes.
