LVIV, Ukraine (AP) – A medical college in western Ukraine has been transformed into a temporary hospital as the coronavirus floods the Eastern European country.
The lobby of the Lviv city school has 50 beds for patients with COVID-19 and 300 more are placed in classrooms and auditoriums to accommodate the overflow of people seeking care in a full emergency hospital nearby .
The head of the hospital’s therapies division, Marta Sayko, said the university space has doubled its treatment capacity. He expects a broad closure ordered on Friday to reduce the burden on the Ukrainian health system.
“Given that now the number of cases is growing, there are more patients arriving in serious condition with signs of respiratory failure,” Sayko said.
The government’s wide closure closed schools, gyms and entertainment venues and bans table service in restaurants until Jan. 25. Ukraine, which has a population of 42 million, has reported more than 1.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and nearly 20,000 pandemic deaths.
Many medical workers have criticized the government for ordering the closure only after the Christmas and New Year holidays instead of running the risk of angering the public.
“We saw New Year’s Eve parties on a large scale 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 Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of Ukraine, now in its seventh year, has further exhausted the country’s corrupt economy. Controversial reforms that reduced government subsidies weakened the nation’s health care system, leaving hospital workers poorly paid and ill-equipped.
In the city 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 And our material base is obsolete, to say the least. We lack a normal diagnostic equipment. “
Some COVID-19 patients who are in serious condition in the hospital with deteriorated appearance are lying next to others who are recovering.
Oleksandra Kaldarar shares a room with her husband, Mykhailo, and her son, both with fans.
“Measures should have been stricter for people to be more protected,” he said.
Medical workers say a national vaccination campaign, which is expected to begin in March, offers the best chance of improving the country’s dire situation.
“First of all, we are waiting for the vaccination. Then it’s about understanding people, isolating yourself, taking care of each other, washing your hands, wearing masks in the right way, not under your nose or chin, limiting social contact and avoiding the crowds, ”said Zoryana Mashtaler, a Lviv anesthetist. “However, we understand that people are people and, unfortunately, some do not follow the rules. That’s what it is. “
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Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Kiev, Ukraine.
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