Coronavirus, six patients in intensive care at the Bari Polyclinic. “It hadn’t happened since May”

On the ground floor of the Asclepios pavilion, in the Policlinico di Bari, the patients hospitalized for Covid-19 have returned to intubate, in the beds of the Reanimation 2 directed by Professor Salvatore Grasso they had not been infected since mid-May. “After two and a half months of tranquility, we resumed the entire dressing and undressing procedure that is carried out to properly wear personal protective equipment and avoid contagion. We had freed ourselves from that process, ”says Grasso.

Professor Salvatore Grasso

How many patients are in the room now?
“Six. There were eight until a few days ago, taking into account the two patients already discharged. We are talking about figures that are very far from those we had in the first wave, when in total we treated about ninety people.”

Are you afraid of a resurgence of infections?
“Yes. And I don’t hide from you that, like everyone else, every day I look forward to consulting the regional bulletin and the numbers of infections registered at the national level.”

Playing now ….

What is the average age of the hospitalized patients in recent days?
“During Phase 1 I was 68 years old, now it has dropped to 61: it seems nothing, but the average age has dropped significantly. We also had thirty-something here: the youngest patient, a Bengali resident in Bari who is already discharged, He is 34 years old ”.

And the older patient?
“He was 83 years old.”

Had?
“Unfortunately he didn’t make it. He had other illnesses and died in the night despite our best efforts. Which was remarkable, because as usual we didn’t forgive each other. Unfortunately, it didn’t help.”

The average age has dropped, he said. But has the clinical picture also changed?
“I would say no, at least in the patients followed since mid-August. They are people in need of mechanical ventilation according to protocols that we have learned well. Of the six people hospitalized, four are intubated and the other two alternate masks and helmets. As in Phase 1 there is a slight prevalence of men over women “.

The Polyclinic is looking for 205 nurses. Are you understaffed?
“No. At least in the critical area, which is my area of ​​reference. We cannot complain: we have 43 nurses and 25 doctors between structured and in training. But it is possible that other departments have been neglected to attend to our needs and that is why we need strengthen those structures. “

Governor Michele Emiliano says we are in the second wave of coronavirus infections.
“I am not an epidemiologist and I do not know if technically we can speak of a second wave. The truth is that we are registering an increase in the number of hospitalized patients. And that the 11 beds available in the module that we use today may exceed 40 in a short time. More so, if the virus does not give respite as it did in Phase 1 of the pandemic. Let’s say we have learned our lesson and we know how to do it. But we hope not to have to return to the fight with an escalation of cases. “