Working in the coronavirus line of fire: what doctors are like on a daily basis

The directors of the main hospitals in Buenos Aires were in Two voices (TN) and told how it is to work daily in hospitals and clinics due to the advance of the coronavirus, which in Argentina has already caused the death of 214 people.

The director of the Hospital of San Isidro, Susana Guidi Rojo, explained: “We are in direct communication with Migrations and there were more than 5000 cases of residents who entered the municipality, of which there were 23 positives. According to the protocols, we followed up “

“We have been preparing since before the quarantine with a protocol that the Ministry of Health made with the three hospitals we have in San Isidro. At the entrances of each one, their temperature is taken and those with an above-average record go by one way and those who do not, by another, “he added. “We take care of the supplies and at this moment we are well, the most valuable thing we have is the staff“, he pointed.

He also completed: “About those that are probable COVID-19, they enter those carp species that they donated to us and there they are evaluated if they have other symptoms. Then they move to another area where we have a seven-bed isolation, we swab them and wait 48 hours for the results to come. We also have 33 beds in the critical area prepared for COVID-19 and a 20-bed room where infected patients are. “

The deputy director of the Muñiz Hospital, Juan Carlos Cisneros, indicated that they are facing a “complex situation”. “Since this started, we have neither Saturday nor Sunday. Right now in the hospital, apart from the on-call doctors, who are a very large group, we are working on this, about 70,” he said.

“We had a large, historic, almost abandoned building, dedicated in the 1930s to tuberculosis. Today we can house, after all the arrangements made, about 300 beds, “he said.

For his part, Javier Maroni, from the Evita Hospital in Lanús, maintained that, in addition to the health challenge, there is one with social and solidarity aspects.

“We are better than two months ago, we have the inputs from China. They are inputs that the quality is revalidated,” he said to chase away the fears that were generated after the products bought by other countries from the Asian giant were defective.

“If we did not have the supplies, the workers would not have to put themselves at risk,” he added, referring to the criticism that was heard from some sectors about the possible arrival of Cuban doctors.

“We are surprised by the hatred towards them, who are very good. Who can refuse someone to help? “, he reflected while saying that “quarantine must be extended”.

Finally, the director of the Fernández Hospital, Ignacio Previgliano, maintained: “The main condition of this virus is going to be respiratory in 70% of the patients, that’s why what we had to do was expand the capacity of rooms with the possibility of oxygen”

“I want to tell people that the sacrifice they make to stay at home served so that we can prepare ourselves because what is coming now is terrible. City experts expect that in mid-May we will have 300 patients in intensive care and another 500 in wards requiring oxygen, “he said.

“If the curve had not been flattened this instead of being 300 would be 3000 and we would have collapsed the system“, concluded the professional of the Fernández Hospital where about 2600 people work.