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There is almost consensus that the full closure that began on March 14 and ends on March 30 will be the last, due to difficult economic conditions that prevent any thought of extending the closure for additional days or returning to it to curb injuries that have been flying for weeks.
Contrary to estimates, there could be a slight decrease in the number of daily injuries as a result of the total closure. Yesterday, the figures resumed their increase, with the Ministry of Health announcing in the evening that 1,859 cases were registered (13 of them were imported), while 24 deaths were registered in the last 24 hours (the total of deaths reached 974) . These numbers arrive on the eve of the 13th day of the shutdown, which ends next Tuesday, so this means that the shutdown did not achieve its desired goals, and was “unnecessary,” or are these numbers just evidence that the shutdown saved the country of a worst-case scenario, according to sources. Ministry of Health?
In a quick inventory of official figures, there have been around 13,000 recoveries since the start of the lockdown until last night. In just 12 days, 17,890 new infections were recorded and 168 people died, bringing the death rate in Lebanon to 139 people per million residents. According to figures for the last 14 days, the rate of exposure of residents in Lebanon to the virus reached 403 people per 100,000 residents.
Some anti-blockage organizations (especially merchants) raise these figures as evidence of the ineffectiveness of the closure, the inevitability of living with the worsening of the epidemiological reality, and possibly achieving “herd immunity” until the promised vaccine arrives, while sources of the Ministry of Health rely on the same figures to confirm that the situation would have been more catastrophic had it not been for the “mercy” of the closure.
Aside from this discussion, these events raise further concerns about the post-closure phase and raise questions about the steps that will be taken to coincide with the reopening.
Sources from the Ministry of Health confirmed to “Al-Akhbar” that “the gradual reopening this time will be accompanied by decisive measures in the sectors to ensure the commitment of those in charge of prevention measures under threat of closure.” Well, “the bet after the closure will be for the neighbors before the exclusion of the option to return to a fifth closure due to the economic crisis.” He concluded that “whoever wants to survive and not be infected must protect themselves, because the state currently has no choice but to wait for the vaccine and increase the number of beds.” Despite this, the Ministry of Health and the government that supports it must explain the preparations and the equipment it achieved during the shutdown.
The irony is that the “achievement” currently being promoted is the incorporation of 210 regular beds and 90 intensive care beds in private hospitals that have “graciously” accepted the reception of the injured, after the Ministry of Health was subjected to blackmail by raising the cost of the Coronavirus patient to 300 thousand pounds per day and 500 thousand pounds in the intensive care room. . All of this could have been accomplished weeks ago, without the “honor” of private hospitals, if Health Minister Hamad Hassan had promised seven months ago to supply “collapsed” government hospitals, and there might have been no need for repeat closures. if that was really true.
It is noteworthy that private hospitals, in parallel with the support received, have not taken exceptional measures to strengthen and protect their nursing staff, either by paying the salaries of current employees or by rehiring those expelled under the pretext of the crisis . Here, people interested in the healthcare sector are asked: Are the beds sufficient to cope with the pressure on the healthcare sector unless there are many necessary healthcare workers?
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