“We expect to add another 350 (beds) in the next two weeks,” he said.
A second aggressive wave saw Peru passing 40,000 Covid-19 deaths on Tuesday, according to data released by the country’s Ministry of Health.
Infections are also on the rise – with about 100,000 new cases recorded in the last month alone – while officials warn of burnt doctors and overwhelmed intensive care units.
Insufficient
Alicia Abanto, an official of the Peruvian Ombudsman, told CNN that Sagasti’s announcement was a good step in the middle of the second aggressive wave, but it probably won’t be enough.
She explained that 1,829 of the 1,931 UCI beds in Peru are currently occupied. “There are only 102 beds available nationwide, and that number is not enough for a country with 25 regions,” Abanto said.
Some regions do not have ICU beds available, while at least 16 regions have less than three beds available for incoming patients. “These are regions that could cover 1 million people,” Abanto added.
The lack could soon force doctors to make painful decisions. Dr. Rosa Luz López supervises the ICU at Guillermo Almenara Hospital in Lima. Her team decides which patient receives an intensive care bed when one is available.
“You do what you can … that’s it, it’s like throwing a coin,” she told CNN.
So far, they have managed to triple the number of beds in her unit, but López says it will not be enough.
Meanwhile, Jesus Valverde, president of the Society for Intensive Care and a physician at Dos de Mayo Hospital in Lima, told CNN that he had asked health officials not to add any more beds – because there were not enough doctors to cover them.
Doctors are lying too thin across the country, he says.
All 50 beds in his hospital’s intensive care beds are occupied, and his colleagues are “exhausted, tired, sick,” he says.
Nationwide, covering more than 1,800 beds occupied by ICUs would ideally require 1,250 doctors, he said. Instead, “600 doctors in the country work in double or triple shifts to cover this deficit.”
Last week, a handful of Peruvian doctors went on hunger strike to demand more investment in the country’s health sector.
Amid growing criticism, President Sagasti said on Tuesday that Peruvians should expect the first million doses of China’s Sinopharm vaccine to arrive in the next few days.
The vaccine has not yet been approved by Peruvian regulators, but Sagasti said the government plans to begin the vaccination campaign in February, with front-line health workers receiving immunizations.
The Peruvian government also finalized two more agreements with Sinopharm for half a million doses in February and 1.5 million doses in March, he said.