Chile’s hospital system is on the verge of collapse. 97% of their critical beds are occupied, mostly with COVID-19 patients, while between 6,000 and 8,000 new infected people are added daily, of whom, after a few days, around 800 will need a ventilator to continue breathing, they warned. the authorities today.
“The pandemic continues to wreak havoc and a lot of pain,” said Health Minister Enrique Paris, who added that “we are facing a difficult situation in relation to the use of ICU (Intensive Care Unit) beds.”
The Undersecretary of Healthcare Networks, Alberto Dougnac, reported at a press conference that on the last day more than 6,000 infected and 137 dead were added, bringing the number of infected to more than one million, while the death toll exceeds 24,000.
The government’s main concern is 97% of critical bed occupancy in intensive care units, which receive between 40 and 50 new patients daily with the virus. Chile has quadrupled its fan beds since the pandemic arrived, reaching 4,158 this week, of which only 135 are available.
Undersecretary of Public Health Paula Daza said 70% of new people in intensive care units (ICUs) are between 20 and 59 years old, most of whom are not vaccinated, while those aged 70 in ICUs show “a sustained low, ”which authorities attribute to the fact that most older adults have already been vaccinated with the two doses required by the Chinese immunizer Sinovac.
related:
As of next Thursday, 90% of Chileans will be under a total or partial quarantine, a measure that seeks to curb infections, as well as the closure of borders and restrictions on the sale of non-essential products.
President Sebastián Piñera and his health minister, Paris, say the South American country will reach mass immunity by the end of June, when the government expects to have vaccinated 80% of the 19 million Chileans. However, the claim has been questioned.
Former Health Minister Jaime Mañalich, Paris’ predecessor, said on the eve that herd immunity would “never” be reached and that in September there could be “security immunity”, while the College Secretary Chilean doctor José Miguel Bernucci said on Monday that “most likely, at best and with many people vaccinated, this will not be before the end of the year.”
Paris declined to argue with his predecessor and said vaccination “is not the only solution,” and has reiterated the call for self-care. “We have talked about that to protect our population we need to vaccinate at least more than 70% of the susceptible population,” he added.
“To maintain hope we must be united, not argue, and move forward in both fields: care and vaccination, and keep very firm the treatment of those patients who need to be hospitalized,” he said.
Chile has vaccinated 7.3 million people, 38% of its total population, of which more than 60% received the two doses of Sinovac. 88% of those immunized received the Chinese vaccine and the remaining 12% the American vaccine from Pfizer.
We recommend: