Dutch COVID-19 patients transferred to Germany as hospitals struggle

FILE PHOTO: Medics treat a patient infected with COVID-19, in the intensive care unit at Maastricht UMC+ Hospital in Maastricht, Netherlands, November 10, 2020. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Netherlands on Tuesday started transporting COVID-19 patients across the border to Germany to ease pressure on Dutch hospitals struggling to deal with a surge in coronavirus cases.

A patient was transferred by ambulance from Rotterdam to a hospital in Bochum, some 240 km (150 miles) east, on Tuesday morning, and another would follow later in the day, health authorities said.