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A group of leading Karachi doctors, belonging to the Pakistan Medical Association, on Wednesday painted a sobering picture of the realities on the ground facing frontline workers in the fight against the coronavirus.
Urging the government and religious leaders to continue to adhere to recommended precautions rather than ease restrictions, they warned that otherwise there would come a time when they would have to choose between one of the two patients to save.
Addressing the emergency briefing, Dr. Saad Niaz. A gastroenterologist at Dow University of Health Sciences said it was important to remember that the outbreak is primarily a health problem.
“This is a medical problem that [of course] it has its resulting economic and social effects. But we must understand that this is, above all, a medical problem. “
“From April 16 to 21, we went from 6,772 patients to 9,464 patients, which represents an increase of nearly 40% […] an increase of 2,692 patients. If you count patients since February 25, we take the time to reach 2,000 patients, “he said.
Dr. Niaz regretted that unfortunately there is the impression that this is not as serious a problem in our country as in other countries. “The reason for this is our ability to test, which is a problem that will remain,” he said.
Warning against such impressions, he said: “This is not true at all. All doctors think that the numbers are higher and will continue to increase.”
“Some people thought that because we live on the subcontinent, [coronavirus] It will not affect us and if it affects us, it will not be so serious. “
“We have not yet reached its peak. Therefore, it is very important to break all these myths,” said Dr. Niaz.
“If we had not put the country under a blockade, then the situation would have been different. Similarly, if we do not act now, in two weeks, the situation will be very different.”
“The wards are already 80% saturated. And in the case of Pakistan, there are more patients under the age of 60,” he said.
Dr. Niaz also drew attention to the fact that more and more doctors are affected, and up to 162 who have already been victims of Sindh’s disease.
“We are already very poorly equipped when it comes to our medical care. We don’t have what it takes to combat this,” he said, citing the lack of specific COVID-19 facilities and personal protective equipment for doctors across the country.
“We will have great difficulties in the coming days, such as the refusal to admit patients because there are no beds,” he said.
“Severity [of the outbreak] it is much more than we already think. All experts think that this will get out of control in the next two to four weeks. And with the arrival of patients who do not have COVID, hospitals should be closed [to more patients]”
The DUHS doctor explained that the country’s current capacity so far had sustained patient volume “because due to a blockade in place, they were only arriving.”
“The projected figures are 70,000 and if even 10% of those are serious cases, we don’t even have the capacity to accommodate them. There are no fans.”
“Our only option is to be aggressive with precautions. We don’t have the ability or the ability to combat something of the scale that it could reach.”
“Anything we have done so far will have to continue,” he emphasized.
“What I fear is that we will start treating patients on the road. We will decide between a 35-55 year old man and give preference to the younger one.”
Angry, stressed doctors
Dr. Abdul Bari, who is the CEO of Indus Hospital, said that after the closure was eased on April 14, doctors vehemently protested the decision.
“We think there would be a blockage of at least two incubation periods and it would show some positive signs,” he said.
He said that the arrival of Ramazan, which had led the government to review the measures taken and subsequently to ease the restrictions, had led to an increase in cases.
“This caused great anger and stress in the medical community, as they are the experts in this situation. [and must be heard]Bari said, adding: “All the medical facilities in Karachi are almost full of patients.”
Another doctor regretted that the blockage had been reduced.
“The Sindh government had taken very good measures at first.
“That has become a joke now. There are countless vehicles on the road. […] We have gathered here to tell him that we no longer have space in hospitals, “said the doctor.
He said the government had made a “great mistake”, as had religious scholars, in agreeing to a reduction of the restrictions.
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