Chile’s hospital system is on the verge of collapse. 97% of its critical beds are occupied, especially by patients with COVID-19, while between 6,000 and 8,000 new infected people are added daily, of which, after a few days, about 800 will need a ventilator to continue to breathe, authorities warned on Monday.
“The pandemic continues to wreak havoc and a lot of pain,” said Health Minister Enrique Paris, adding that “we are facing a difficult situation in terms of ICU (Intensive Care Unit) bed occupancy.”
Undersecretary of Healthcare Networks Alberto Dougnac told a news conference that more than 6,000 infected people and 137 deaths had been added in the last day, leading to over one million infections, while deaths exceed 24,000. .
The government’s main concern is the 97% occupancy of critical beds in intensive care units, which receive between 40 and 50 new patients with the virus daily. Chile has quadrupled its fan beds since the pandemic arrived, reaching 4,158 this week, of which only 135 are available.
Undersecretary for Public Health Paula Daza said 70% of those newly infected in intensive care units (ICUs) are between the ages of 20 and 59, most of whom are not vaccinated, while those aged 70 in the ICU shows that decline, “which authorities attribute to the fact that most elderly adults have already been vaccinated with the two doses required by the Chinese immunizer Sinovac.
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As of Thursday, 90% of Chileans will be under total or partial quarantine, a measure aimed at stopping infections, as well as closing borders and restrictions on the sale of non-essential products.
President Sebastián Piñera and his health minister, Paris, say the South American country will gain massive immunity by the end of June, when the government hopes to vaccinate 80 percent of Chile’s 19 million. However, the request was questioned.
Former Paris Health Minister Jaime Mañalich said a day earlier that the herd’s immunity would “never” be granted and that there could be “security immunity” in September, while Chile’s medical college secretary said. José Miguel Bernucci said on Monday that “most likely, in the best case and with many people vaccinated, this will not be before the end of the year”.
Paris declined to argue with its predecessor, saying vaccination “is not the only solution” and reiterated its call for self-care. “We said that in order to protect our population we need to vaccinate at least more than 70% of the sensitive population,” he added.
“In order to maintain hope, we must be united, not argue and move forward in both areas: care and vaccination, and very firmly maintain the treatment of patients in need of hospitalization,” he said.
Chile has vaccinated 7.3 million people, 38% of its total population, of which over 60% have received the two doses of Sinovac. 88% of those immunized received the Chinese vaccine, and the remaining 12% the American vaccine from Pfizer.
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