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This is opinion material. The opinions expressed here are those of the author.
The first day of my secondary service in a geriatric clinic. The ward in which it would be located was evacuated after a patient tested positive for sars-CoV-2. It is slated to become a greedy department. Today there are two patients.
A week later, the clinic has two greedy departments with a total of 42 patients. Today, another week later, another department has been dedicated to the care of patients with covid. Three departments in three weeks. It was so fast.
So far, my department has remained a general medical department. But the work is heavily influenced by the ongoing pandemic.
I cannot claim that my workload is particularly much higher than normal. But the tension is definitely there. This virus is cunning. It is a constant threat and never allows you to relax. That is, it is very difficult to rule out that the patient is carrying the infection.
It is not uncommon for the patient to be positive for sars-CoV-2 despite the absence of respiratory symptoms. Or negative when you enter the department to be positive the next day. Or negative in repeated samples, but generally it shows clinical picture and pulmonary changes. Daily, patients isolate and analyze each other. They move between single rooms and multiple rooms. If covid-19 is found, they can change departments. Health care is largely logistical.
This has led me to stay away from patients when I can, although I have no suspicion that they are infected.
The fact that we are forced to reduce physical contact between us is one of the worst that this virus causes. I find it strange not to be as close as I am used to. Do not grab or shake the shoulder. I stand at a distance and shout out loud to the hearing impaired elderly.
Nor is psychiatry unmoved by covid-19. I realize that when I go to my home clinic on the weekends. Patients avoid coming if they really don’t need it. Routines and organization change, patients with suspected or established covid-19 are cared for in a special department where staff have been trained for this purpose. A department in the clinic doesn’t even serve patients with psychiatric illnesses. Instead, it receives geriatric patients and is rounded off by psychiatrists with the support of geriatricians.
The cases I handle on calls are different. I visit an infection room to evaluate a covid patient with psychotic illness. I have much more protection than in the geriatric ward where I work every day. It is hot and my visor is submerged again. The Covid tension is present and it bothers me.
It’s only been a few weeks, but Covid is the new normal. It is an impressive change that medical care has made, most people agree. But I am equally impressed by how health professionals adapted to new circumstances. We just like the situation and participate. Covid’s excitement is our new everyday life.
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