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The School of Public Health of the University of Chile made a new study on the progress of coronavirus in the country that estimates that there could be a collapse of the country’s health system in the next two weeks given the increasing degree of occupancy of the beds of the Intensive Care Units (ICU) of hospitals.
The study, which presents updated data as of May 10, achieves that “it is expected” that there will be a significant increase in the number of coronavirus cases and in the use of ICU beds and that “A dynamic like this would saturate the health system, probably from the next week or the next”.
The country’s president, Sebastián Piñera, stated on Tuesday that “the next few weeks will be the most difficult” and that “the health system is extremely stressed and in demand.”
Since the beginning of May, Chile began to record more than a thousand new cases of coronavirus per day, registering another record on Tuesday with 1,658 new infections in the last 24 hours.
In total, the number of infections in the country is to date 31,721, accounting for 335 deaths; while the occupation at the national level of intensive care beds (ICU) reaches 77%, while for the metropolitan region the figure rises to 87%.
The report projects a peak of infections for late May or early June and a peak in the use of ICU beds in the first week of June, as well as a significant increase in mortality since June.
Regarding the situation in regions, the report states that the ICU burden is “uneven in the territory, with great concentration in the Metropolitan Region -in which the country’s capital is located-, which will cause an availability problem in the regions that will be difficult to manage. ”
“At this rate we will need more fans”
The undersecretary of Assistance Networks of Chile, Arturo Zúñiga, indicated this Tuesday that a ICU bed occupancy 77% nationally and 87% in the Metropolitan Region, the most populated in the country and the one that houses the capital, Santiago de Chile.
“We had 1,200 ICU beds with ventilators at the beginning, today we are 1,900 and that requires each one of the establishments to do the maximum amount of reconversion of complex beds to be able to attend to this pandemic in a good way,” said Zúñiga.
“If we continue at this rate, we are going to need more fans and that is why we are delivering and we have already made purchases that will be delivered in the next few days and will be distributed to hospitals, “he added.
Avoid social contact
In relation to the study, the head of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Clinical Hospital of the University of Chile, Carlos Romero, said on Tuesday in an interview with local radio Pauta that “the only way to really prevent the system health collapse is that people take care and avoid social contact.
Romero also referred to the authorities’ efforts to have the necessary equipment to treat the disease, which they would not be enough because there is also a lack of personnel.
“As there are more cases, the quality of care is going to be lower therefore the chances of survival are going to be lower“It is not about having the bed available, the fan available, but specialized human resources will be insufficient at a certain time,” he said.
Foreign Physicians Bill
The Minister of Health, Jaime Mañalich, took advantage of the daily balance of Covid-19 in the country to highlight the discussion on Tuesday of a motion that would allow the Eunacom test to be suspended, which is a theoretical-practical examination of general medicine that is applied in Chile to revalidate or validate the medical degree obtained abroad to be able to practice in the country.
Also, the specialist certification exam would be suspended.
The suspension of the test It would allow specialists who are in Chile to “help at this difficult time in terms of demand for care”Mañalich said.
“That is why we call on senators to quickly approve this bill that will allow for more qualified human resources,” added the minister.
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