Infectologist Iván Solano Leiva warns that it is 95% full, but the administration of the medical center reported on social networks that there is enough space.
Last Wednesday there were 265 new cases of COVID-19 according to the Ministry of Health, the same number as on June 29, the date when a peak of confirmed cases of the disease began, when the health system collapsed due to lack of beds for infected patients .
Six months ago, intensive care units (ICUs) and health professionals could not cope with the wave of infections; now the beds (ICU) of El Salvador Hospital are about to collapse, with 95% of their capacity.
‘For this day (Tuesday) at El Salvador Hospital: ICU beds: 92% occupancy, out of a total beds: 105. UICU beds (intermediate care unit): 80% occupancy, out of a total beds: 143. Beds general: 29% occupancy, out of a total of beds: 700 ”, assured the infectologist Iván Solano Leiva, member of the Medical College, on his Twitter account.
Contrasting the data provided by the doctor with official government data, it is identified that 379 patients suffer from the disease in a serious way, of which 114 may be in the Intermediate Care Unit and another 203 people occupy the general income of the hospital for COVID-19, located at the International Center for Fairs and Conventions (CIFCO).
Interior of El Salvador Hospital. / EDH Photo Archive
However, on Twitter, the administration of El Salvador Hospital provided various data on Wednesday afternoon and published that “we have 36 people in intensive care and 634 free beds, only in this hospital” in Cifco. However, according to data provided by Solano Leiva, there are approximately 417 people admitted to that medical center.
In five months, El Salvador Hospital reported 928 deaths from COVID-19 and atypical pneumonia.
“Unfortunately, we are heading for a comeback in the COVID-19 cases, and the front-line staff will not rest this holiday season. The memory of the Salvadorans is short and we relax, both the population and The Ministry of Health, and we do not follow the protocols “, said the infectologist Solano Leiva.
Health has neglected health promotion and prevention
For doctor Mariano Chávez Andino and infectologist Jorge Panameño, it is important that prevention campaigns are a priority in the face of increasing new cases of COVID-19, campaigns that in their opinion have been neglected by the Ministry of Health and other state entities.
“Cases are growing progressively, we are reaching a point where we are likely to reach a very large number of cases and the health system will be saturated again,” said intensifier Chávez Andino.
While infectiologist Jorge Panameño claimed that there had been little vigilance from health authorities since October, when doctors began warning of an increase in suspected cases and attention to COVID-19.
“We have always been hit by little or no surveillance by the appropriate authorities,” Jorge Panameño said in a television interview.
Given the increasing number of COVID-19 cases, both health professionals expressed concern and said they hoped that after nine months of pandemic, the errors and failures that had been committed during the first outbreak of disease in Mexico have been corrected and corrected. With regard to personal protective equipment for health workers who are at the forefront of the fight against the disease.
According to figures from the “Salvador Allende” Health Movement, as of December 15, there were 156 deaths of health workers who lost the fight against the virus.
In the last seven days, 45 people have died from COVID-19, including two doctors, two nurses and a pharmacy technician who have lost their lives due to the disease.