“It’s incredibly complicated. We are extraordinarily out of the way of doctors,” says Stetsik, the hospital’s leading physician in the city of 20,000. “It’s very difficult for a doctor to see all the patients. “
The hospital is intended to obtain one hundred patients, but it is already being taken to the extreme, treating 106 patients with COVID-19.
At the beginning of the pandemic, Ukraine’s fitness formula struggled to cope with the epidemic and the government imposed a strict closure in March to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.
The number of cases slowed over the summer, but began to increase again, which led the government last August to close Ukraine’s borders for a month. Despite this, the number of positive tests in the country reached a new high of 4661 consistent with the day on the first weekend of October.
Overall, COVID-19 infections in the country have doubled in the last month, exceeding 234,000.
“The number of patients is expanding and an increasing proportion of them are in a serious condition,” Stetsik told The Associated Press on stage in Stebnyk, a quiet town in the Lviv region. “The virus is adjusting more competitively and harder to control struggle. “
He said many of those who suffer a lot are over 30 years old, adding that an increasing number of them want expensive drugs.
“There is a similar scenario in Ukraine,” he said, adding that hospitals were running out of budget to supply medicines, forcing patients in some spaces to buy their own.
The World Health Organization warns that the number of infections in Ukraine can continue between 7,000 and 9,000 depending on the day.
The government needs to enforce a new blockade, but officials recognize that the growing number of infections would possibly make it necessary. He tried to introduce a more flexible technique to minimize economic damage, dividing the country into other areas, depending on the rate of infections. .
At an assembly with officials in Kiev on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rebuked them for not doing enough to stop the spread and take too long to supply supplies.
“We spent weeks doing things we want done in a few days,” he said.
Zelenskiy, in particular, suggested that they act more temporarily to ensure that hospitals have sufficient additional oxygen, noting that only about 40% of beds for COVID-19 patients need it.
Ukraine’s corrupt economy has been depleted due to a six-year confrontation with Russian-backed separatists in the east of the country, and Zelenskiy’s administration inherited health care reforms from its predecessor that cut government subsidies, leaving hospital workers underpaid and ill-equipped.
Last month, Zelenskiy ordered the government to raise the wages of medical workers.
Official statistics show that 132 medical staff died from coronavirus, the figure does not come with those who tested negative and had typical COVID-19 symptoms.
One of them is Ivan Venzhynovych, a 51-year-old therapist from the western town of Pochaiv, who described the demanding situations of managing the epidemic in an interview with the AP in May.
Venzhynovych died last week of double pneumonia, which his colleagues even alidea caused through the coronavirus, even though it came back negative.
“I had COVID-19,” said Venzhynovych’s widow, Iryna, a doctor at the hospital where she worked. “There are many infections among medical staff, some were shown and some were not. “
The government is paying the equivalent of $56,000 to the families of medical personnel who died of coronavirus, but Venzhynovych’s widow got paid because she tested negative.
As the number of infections increases, many lawmakers and senior officials test positive, adding former President Petro Poroshenko, who was hospitalized in serious condition with viral pneumonia.
Health pros the government to repair a radical blockade, underlining the scarce resources of the fitness care system.
“It is imaginable that Ukraine will have to return to strict quarantine as in the spring. The number of patients is really important,” said Dr. Andriy Gloshovskiy, surgeon at Stebnyk Hospital.
He attributed the new infections to public negligence.
“People are pretty carefree and I’m sorry to be inspired by the numbers,” he said.
Gloshovskiy said he had to move to remedy patients with COVID-19 due to staff shortages.
“I had to replace my specialty because my colleagues just couldn’t manage without me,” he said.
Health Minister Maxim Stepanov said a shortage of doctors and nurses is a big problem.
“We can increase hospital capacity and oxygen supply, but we may run out of doctors,” he said. “Each formula has its limit. “
A strict shutdown would be a blow to the already weakened economy, Stepanov said, warning that the government might be forced to do so anyway.
“If the scenario takes a threatening turn, the Ministry of Health would propose to take serious quarantine measures again,” he said.
At Stebnyk Hospital, some patients reported that they did not realize the risk of coronavirus until they became ill.
“I didn’t do it until I got infected,” said Natalia Bobyak, 43. “When I first got here, I saw that other people were starting to have mass health problems.
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Karmanau reported from Kiev, Ukraine.
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