Irene Hartmann
04/21/2020 - 15:58
- Clarín.com
- Society
The coronavirus in Argentina added one more question to the list of the great national enigmas: why if we produce food for 400 million people we reach 40% poverty, why inflation in our lives, always; why if we usually go wrong we are world famous for our ego . And now: why if we only have 3,000 cases of Covid-19 infection and less than 150 deaths (supposedly “kind” figures), the percentage of health workers who contracted coronavirus in less than two months is among the highest of the planet .
Doctors, nurses and health personnel in general who were infected with the virus represent 14% of all positives in the country. To adequately qualify the information, it must be said that it is a very high percentage , but not the highest in the world, as circulated in some media. Still, being alarmed by this issue makes sense, as the figure doesn't stray far from the countries where the pandemic hit fiercely.
It also makes sense to worry because the circumstance of infected healthcare personnel is, without a doubt, the most powerful snowball you can have in the context of a viral pandemic. It could be confirmed by anyone who has witnessed the internal chaos that broke out in the four Buenos Aires hospitals (Zubizarreta, Santojanni, Ramos Mejía and Tornú) that in recent days revealed to have "suspicious" or even "positive" employees, which forced them to shut down entire health services, isolate doctors and transfer patients .
How is Argentina in comparison with other countries? Our regional pairs offer dissimilar cases: Uruguay , with 90 infected doctors over 602 cases, is also passing 14%. On the other hand, according to April 8 figures, Chile did not reach 6%. In Peru it remains below 2% .
A nurse, wearing protective clothing, at the Belgrano Hospital. (EFE)
A case where this variable is alarming is offered by Spain : according to information to which Clarín agreed , the contagions of health personnel there represent almost 17% of the total confirmed cases.
In Italy , where for weeks the population witnessed a sinister parade of coffins, the doctors and nurses who contracted coronavirus reached 11% of all infected, according to the WHO and based on data collected as of April 10. Translated, there are more than 15,000 health workers with the virus.
That percentage - like that of Argentina - is above the global average reported by the WHO, which is 10% . In a part published on April 12, the agency clarified that "until April 8, 2020, 22,073 cases of COVID-19 had been reported to the WHO among health workers in 52 countries ." However, they admitted, "There is no systematic reports of this kind, so this number probably represents less than there actually are. ”
As an example of this underreporting, they clarify that "a Chinese publication on 44,672 confirmed cases as of February 17 indicated that 1,688 (3.8%) infections were among health workers."
It follows that the United States must be another good example of dwindling data, judging by the questioned direction to confront the pandemic on the part of President Donald Trump.
Thus, while the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) talks about 3% of health workers out of the total number of those infected (which reached 720,000 this week ), the same body recognizes its limitations and publishes a paper that outlines the less than 11% of health workers with coronavirus.
But the NBC news network, collecting regional figures from the States of Ohio and Minnesota, report 20% of infected doctors and other health workers out of the total number of Covid-19 cases in those jurisdictions.
With national seal
Having said all this, it seems strange - not to say absurd - that while Argentina, thanks to the advanced quarantine, transits the pandemic in a "benevolent" way, health personnel infected by Covid-19 represent 14% of the total , drawing closer to the countries that in recent weeks have gone through a real health duel.
In Argentina, more than 3,000 coronavirus infections were reported. 14% were from health system personnel. (EFE)
Clarín tried to obtain an updated number (data that was not currently provided by the Ministry of Health) of the infected doctors in the country, since 14% had been announced by Carla Vizzotti, Secretary for Access to Health, on 17 April, when there were 400 less infected in the country than this Tuesday.
Then, 14% represented 374 doctors , of the 33% had a history of travel: the rest are presumed to have contracted the virus in what is called " horizontal contagion ", that is, in-hospital. Meanwhile, the City of Buenos Aires informed this media that of the 954 infected, 136 are Health professionals, ”that is, 13% .
How can those numbers be read? For Eduardo López, infectious medicine doctor, head of the Medicine Department of the Children's Hospital "Ricardo Gutiérrez", "the situation of infections in hospital personnel is tremendous ". And he said that this circumstance " reveals three things ."
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Watch the specialIn the first place, "that the distribution of PPE ( Personal Protective Equipment ) is neither uniform nor broad, that is, it does not adequately reach all the private and public sanatoriums in the country." What is usually called lack of inputs .
Second, "it reveals that many doctors have multiple jobs , which is another big problem because they leave one hospital and go to another. This increases the risk because perhaps Sanatorium A has all the conditions and B not so much, but the doctor passes the virus horizontally from one health center to another. ”
Third, the doctor concluded, “14% of infected health personnel speak of intense work that generates fatigue and exhaustion means that, unconsciously, the professional reduces the rigor with which he must use the protection elements before treating a suspected or confirmed coronavirus patient. ”
Collaborated: Marina Artusa (from Spain)
DD