[ad_1]
At the European level, according to updated data provided by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Romania is only ahead of the Czech Republic in a ranking of deaths caused by COVID-19. According to official data, in our country there are 4.8 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in the last 14 days. The figure is higher than that registered last week, when in Romania there were 3.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants.
The only European country ahead of us is the Czech Republic, with a staggering 6.5 per 100,000 inhabitants. In comparison, Spain has 3.6 and France and the United Kingdom only 1.9. Liechtenstein at 0, Finland, Norway and Estonia at 0.1 are by far managing to do much better than us.
“Adevărul” tried to find out the reasons why people die more often in Romania from COVID-19 than in other countries and spoke with various experts, who, in turn, tried to clarify the situation.
While there is a unanimously accepted explanation for why the number of COVID-19 cases is increasing in Europe, opinions are divided on the death rate. If in the first case, the number of tests has increased significantly, and the spread of the virus has been accelerated by the stuttering of the authorities and the fact that part of the population has not complied with preventive measures, the situation is even more complex in the case of mortality.
“Many patients go to the doctor late”
The university professor Dr. Diana Cimpoeşu, chief physician of the Emergency Reception Unit (UPU) of the Comarcal Hospital “Sfântul Spiridon” in Iaşi and coordinator of the SMURD Iaşi, considers that the fact that many Romanians are late to the doctor is one of the reasons for the high mortality.
Diana Cimpoeşu believes that many of those who end up with severe forms of COVID go to the doctor late
“In our opinion, many of the serious cases are those of people who arrive at the hospital very late. Some ignore the symptoms, and others may confuse them, the situation is quite complicated. On the one hand we have people who do not suffer from any illness, but who come to the hospital with fear of getting sick, on the other hand we have those who are ill but do not come or when I am late, “Cimpoeşu explained.
Another cause would be, says Diana Cimpoeşu, the fact that many of those infected have other diseases, which makes them more vulnerable. “In our hospital we did not have deaths in people without comorbidities, but in other places there were cases of this type. But it is known that those who had an unfavorable evolution also suffered from other diseases, heart failure, cancer, diabetes or other serious diseases, “says the doctor.
Increase at all levels
The president of the Romanian Society of Epidemiology, Doina Azoicăi, establishes a correlation between the recent explosion of cases and the increasing number of deaths. “Unfortunately, there is a trend that manifests itself in other places, the increase in the number of deaths. I relate it directly to the large number of new cases and to the fact that the disease can affect even the elderly, ”says Azoicăi.
Doina Azoicăi draws attention to the increase in the number of cases lately
The epidemiologist does not believe that the weakness of the Romanian health system is the main cause in this regard. “I have heard this before, but when such a statement is made, it must be proven. I have no data on it,” said Doina Azoicăi also.
Professor at the University of Iowa, in the United States, but also at Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, where he is also director of the Department of Public Health, Răzvan Cherecheş admits that it is very difficult to establish the causes of the vertiginous increase in mortality between patients. COVID from Romania.
“We have 10 times more patients”
“I don’t have a very clear explanation, I can’t make an attribution about it. Speaking of mortality in general, I would say that we have more deaths because of the increase in cases, but also because there is very little evidence. Or, when determining the number of people who die from COVID-19 per 100,000 inhabitants, only the sick are taken into account. In my opinion, actually, the number of patients is 10 times higher, but most will not even know that they are sick, because they are not tested. I think that if we had registered everyone infected with SARS-CoV-2, you would see that we would be talking about a much lower mortality, even in our country, ”said Cherecheş.
The expert added that estimates show that, worldwide, the number of infected would be 4 to 22 times higher than the official figures. “In our country, it was estimated to be 10 times higher,” said Răzvan Cherecheş.
Răzvan Cherecheş shows that the authorities are to blame for the situation at the national level
It draws attention to the fact that the authorities took the necessary measures too late, the obligation to wear masks and social distancing, and that is why we have increases both in the number of cases and in mortality. “We have another problem, so far no national study has been carried out on the mortality rate and official information is scarce and incomplete. To know exactly why we have so many deaths, the authorities should have available all the electronic data of the deceased patients, but also of the survivors. But they centralize them manually, they don’t have trained people and they don’t have essential information either, ”Cherecheş added.
“The number of cases will continue to increase for at least two weeks.”
The Cluj professor says he would not have gotten here if the authorities had taken the measures in time and had not postponed them indefinitely. He believes that the measures taken now should have been taken two or three weeks ago.
“The number of cases will continue to increase for at least two more weeks, after which it will stabilize. Very optimistically, we will start to have fewer cases in a month or rather a month and a half, when the measures will go into effect. It is true that a long and hard winter awaits us, and this is mainly due to decisions and indecisions. Let me give you an example: when the rate in London reached 1.00, the mayor of the metropolis decided that the masks would become oligarchs in everywhere, even outdoors. And we also have a positive example, the county of Argeş, which in the summer was at the forefront of the number of cases, but the good and timely decisions made the outbreaks there extinct “, added the Teacher.
Even if the situation is difficult, Răzvan Cherecheş does not believe that a confinement is the solution. “A new lock would not completely solve the problem data, but only for a limited time at most. Instead, a new lock, on the other hand, would risk killing the economy, and when it goes up, we would be back where we are. today. So the only effective solution remains the same: masks, spacing and hygiene, “concluded Cherecheş.
We recommend that you read more:
If you like this article, we hope you will join the community of readers on our Facebook page, by liking it below:
[ad_2]