Although the Bogotá ICU is 76.5% occupied, doctors warn that there is collapse

The capital has 1,340 beds occupied with Covid-19 patients. Despite the fact that according to the District there are 1,752 beds available, doctors and other specialists expressed doubts about the figures and warned that the ICUs in several institutions collapsed.

Bogotá is going through the second peak of the pandemic and that is reflected not only in the increase in cases but also in the capacity of the hospital system to care for patients with Covid-19. According to Saludata, the observatory of the Ministry of Health, in Bogotá 477,203 positive cases have been presented, which indicates that 28.6% of reports in the country are in the capital. Regarding the occupation of Intensive care units (ICU), the entity indicates that there is an occupancy of 76.5% for patients with coronavirus and a total occupancy percentage of 82.8%.

Official figures indicate that only 0.3% of positive cases are in the ICU. 98.5% of the cases are at home, 1.2% are in general hospitalization. Against this background, the District asked the residents of the capital to increase protection measures, especially for those who traveled to other cities to receive the year. According to the mayor in charge and secretary of the Government, Luis Ernesto Gómez, despite the figures, the city has the capacity to treat Covid-19 patients, with 1,752 beds available, according to the platform of the Ministry of Health.

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“We cannot lower our guard, we have the hospital capacity to serve people, but we need to take extreme care measures these days. With more people entering the city, we will have a higher level of interactions and this will increase the pressure on contagion. We are going to be watching and monitoring the evolution of the figures very carefully these days, ”said Gómez.

Despite the calm part of the official, another is the reality that doctors and experts who live day to day in ICUs relate. The Association of Emergency Medicine and Emergencies (ACEM), expressed its concern not only for the number of beds available but for the official figures that the District manages. Fabian Andrés Rosas, president of the ACEM, warned that there are at least 40 patients who would be ventilated in the emergency room while waiting for the ICU. The seriousness of what he affirms is that this situation only occurs when the ICU limit has been exceeded.

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“How do you explain to us that we have ventilated patients in multiple institutions that are not being directed to those beds that are available according to your information system? How do we have institutions with up to eight patients that have not been able to be directed to another institution because they have full ICUs? Will that 75% be real? ”Asked Rosas.

A similar situation commented Carolina Corcho, teacher and researcher in health, who asked to report all patients to assign ICU beds in the shortest time possible. “They do not have to mediate EPS authorizations. Citizens should help while at home, go out only for what is strictly necessary. We request, once again, that patients who are waiting to be transferred to the ICU be reported in the information systems, how many we have ventilated in the different services and transfer times. This is important to establish the real occupation and react appropriately, ”said Corcho, who met this Sunday with the mayor in charge of Bogotá, to convey his proposals to him in order to expedite the transfer of patients who require ICU.

Saludata’s figures on ICU occupancy in different hospitals indicate that some hospital institutions with 100% occupancy for Covid-19 patients are Clínica del Country, Hospital San José, Fundación Santa Fe, Clínica Shaio, Clínica Corpas, Clínica de la Mujer, Clínica de Occidente, Marly Clinic, Méderi Hospital, La Colina Clinic, Nueva del Lago Clinic and Reina Sofía Clinic. Here is the complete map: