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On Thursday, April 30, the Ministry of National Health dispatched a test processing machine to detect the COVID-19 to the Amazon capital. Guillermo Plata, the manager of the strategy against the coronavirus, assured that the objective was that the tests did not have to be sent to Bogotá for analysis. On average, the results were taking ten days – an unprofitable lapse during a health emergency.
A week later, the machine or thermocycler has not yet started operating in the Amazon Public Health Laboratory. For now, the samples continue to travel to the National Institute of Health. Upon his return, the results continue to inflate the number of infected in the department at the wrong time.
According to a professional from the Health Laboratory, who asked for an identity reservation, there were no trained personnel in Leticia to handle the thermal cycler. Two people had to train in Bogotá and now, again in Leticia, they are in isolation to rule out the presence of the virus.
However, a source from the national government assured this media that the device does not work for other reasons: “It is necessary to complete a civil work that guarantees the laboratory’s biosafety conditions. We have been requesting that for several days. There were also delays in the departmental Health Secretariat to sign the loan that allowed to receive the thermocycler, “explained the official.
Late actions
Five out of every 1,000 inhabitants have coronaviruses in Leticia according to the most recent report from the Ministry of Health. Since last week, the high number of positive cases has placed the Amazon in the first place of the rate of infections nationwide, above the large cities with millions of inhabitants.
“The first cases in Leticia were due to contact with people from Brazil”: Yenica Acosta, representative to the Chamber.
Although Leticia is far from the large populated centers of Colombia, its geographical position traces a proximity with cities in Brazil and Peru. Thus, the virus could be a kind of imported product: “The flow of people between Leticia, Tabatinga and Santa Rosa is continuous because we depend commercially. The first cases in Leticia occurred due to contact with people from Brazil, ”says Yenica Acosta, representative to the Chamber for Amazonas.
The Leticians assure that there has been institutional laziness in handling the pandemic. “They had more than 30 days to define an action plan, but they did not. The border closure was not effective. They ordered a curfew only because the Minister of Health was coming. We are desperate. People with symptoms call the hotlines and never answer them, ”says Jussan Fuker, a resident of Leticia.
The hospital that could not be
When the first infections appeared in the capital of the Amazon, it became known that the only public hospital in the city had no way to deal with emergencies. It did not have an Intensive Care Unit and, much less, an isolation area for COVID-19 patients, as required by national protocols.
This would be the COVID-19 isolation and patient care area. / Photo: Courtesy For Leticians like Sebastián Zuluaga, administrator of a hotel, the San Rafael hospital has always been a symbol of corruption. “The Intensive Care Units were to be adapted in the Seine. In a moment they said no longer. In a lot that was part of the hospital parking lot, they emptied a concrete plate and installed Army tents to attend to the most serious patients. It was a contract of more than 800 million, ”says Zuluaga.
“The hospital looks like a morgue. It is in such bad condition that one gets sick and prefers to stay at home”: Sebastián Zuluaga, a resident of Leticia.
That same hospital was announced nationwide on April 20, when doctors and other health professionals made a massive resignation in response to the lack of guarantees for their work in times of pandemic. The next day they decided to return to their work, after having reached agreements with the Interior and the Mayor’s Office that have been partially fulfilled.
“The hospital looks like a morgue. It is in such poor condition that one becomes ill and prefers to stay home. People who have recovered from coronavirus are because they do not reach serious stages ”, adds Sebastián. An intervention by the National Superintendency of Health discovered that the San Rafael had legal, administrative, financial and healthcare flaws.
PUBLIMETRO tried to speak to the mayor of Leticia to contrast the versions of the citizens, but the president was not available to answer a call.
Disobedience
Leticia’s current state of emergency has not been solely the responsibility of the public administration. Several Leticians agree that people have lacked awareness to maintain preventive isolation, not only at times when the virus still seemed somewhat controllable, but now, when it has claimed at least 13 lives in the department.
“As the people did not know, he took it in a very relaxed way and continued on the street”: Jussan Fuker, inhabitant of Leticia.
“The rule was not met. There was a lack of awareness, there was no educational model that explained the magnitude and consequences of the pandemic. As the people did not know, they took it in a very relaxed way and continued on the street, “says Jussan. Although the Mayor’s Office decreed exit restrictions for citizens since the Government announced the national quarantine, the days in the capital of the Amazon passed almost as at any other time.
The economy in Leticia is driven by tourism, agriculture and border trade, three sectors that in no way could adapt to the telework models that have permeated other parts of the country and the world. Hence another problem, which is repeated in several corners of Colombia: the struggle between fear and hunger. “If you are the head of the family and they do not guarantee you the minimum living, you go out to get food. It doesn’t matter if you are infected or if they can infect you ”, adds Sebastián.
Zero hour
The day the machine arrived to process the tests, four mechanical fans and 26 people also arrived, including four doctors and three nurses who will be in charge of the hospital’s COVID area. In constant communication with this medium, one of the doctors sent in that group has confirmed that the situation in Leticia is critical in terms of health.
Just before the closing of this edition, a message from him through WhatsApp announced the unwanted: “We have 40 patients hospitalized for COVID-19. When we reach 60, the hospital enters the war phase: we will have to decide who to save, “said the doctor.
- 230 cases of coronavirus in Amazonas confirmed the Ministry of Health until May 5.
- 13 deaths from the virus have been recorded in the department.
- 862 million cost the adaptation of the San Rafael Hospital facilities.
More news from Colombia, here.
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