LVIV, Ukraine (AP) – A medical college in western Ukraine has been turned into a temporary hospital as the coronavirus floods the Eastern European country.
The foyer of the Lviv city college houses 50 beds for patients with COVID-19, and another 300 are placed in classrooms and auditoriums to accommodate the overflow of people seeking care at a nearby full emergency hospital.
The head of the hospital’s therapy division, Marta Sayko, said the college space had doubled its treatment capacity. She hopes a broad blockade ordered on Friday will reduce the burden on Ukraine’s health care system.
“As the number of cases is increasing, more patients are now in serious condition with signs of respiratory failure,” Sayko said.
The government’s widespread closure has closed schools, gyms and entertainment venues and banned dining at restaurants until January 25. Ukraine, with a population of 42 million, has reported more than 1.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and nearly 20,000 pandemic deaths.
Many health workers have criticized the government for ordering the blockade only after the Christmas and New Year holidays, rather than risking annoying the public.
“We have seen large-scale New Year’s festivities in almost every city,” said Borys Ribun, head of the Lviv regional pathology office. “I think there will be consequences. We’ll see them in a week or two. “
A conflict with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, now in its seventh year, has further drained the country’s corrupt economy. Controversial reforms that have reduced government subsidies have weakened the nation’s health care system, leaving hospital workers underpaid and poorly equipped.
In the town of Rudky near Lviv, most local doctors have reached retirement age.
“The exodus of specialists going abroad is a problem for small hospitals like ours,” said Roman Pukalo, chief physician at Rudky Hospital. “Wages do not meet basic human needs. And our material base is outdated, to say the least. We lack the normal diagnostic equipment. “
Some patients with COVID-19 who are in serious condition at the dilapidated hospital are next to others who are recovering.
Oleksandra Kaldarar shares a room with her husband, Mykhailo, and their son, who are both on fans.
“The measures should have been stricter so that people were more protected,” she said.
Medical workers say a national vaccination program expected to begin in March offers the best chance of improving the country’s serious situation.
“First of all, we hope for vaccination. Then there is understanding people, isolation, mutual care, washing hands, wearing masks in the right way, not under the nose, not on the chin, limiting social contacts and avoiding congestion, “said Zoryana Mashtaler, an anesthetist in Lviv. “However, we understand that people are people, and some of them do not follow the rules, unfortunately. It is what it is.”
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Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Kiev, Ukraine.
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