LVIV, Ukraine (AP) – A medical school in western Ukraine has been turned into a temporary hospital while the coronavirus floods the country in Eastern Europe.
The college lobby in the city of Lviv has 50 beds for COVID-19 patients, and an additional 300 are placed in classrooms and auditoriums to accommodate the influx of people seeking care in a crowded emergency hospital nearby.
The head of the hospital’s therapy division, Marta Sayko, said the college space doubled the treatment capacity. She expects a broad blockade ordered on Friday to ease the burden on the Ukrainian health system.
“Considering that now the number of cases is growing, more patients arrive in serious condition with signs of respiratory failure,” said Sayko.
The government’s broad blockade closed schools, gyms and entertainment venues and prohibits table service in restaurants until January 25. Ukraine, which has a population of 42 million, has reported more than 1.1 million confirmed cases of coronavirus and almost 20,000 deaths in the pandemic.
Many medical professionals criticized the government for ordering the blockade only after the Christmas and New Year holidays, instead of risking angering the public.
“We saw large-scale New Year festivities in almost every city,” said Borys Ribun, head of the regional pathology office in Lviv. “I think there will be consequences. We should see them in a week or two. “
A conflict with Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, now in its seventh year, further drained the country’s economy, dominated by corruption. Controversial reforms that reduced government subsidies have weakened the country’s health care system, leaving hospital staff underpaid and ill-equipped.
In the town of Rudky, near Lviv, most local doctors have reached retirement age.
“The exodus of specialists going abroad poses a problem for small hospitals like ours,” Roman Pukalo, chief physician at Rudky hospital. “Wages do not meet basic human needs. And our material base is outdated, to say the least. We don’t have normal diagnostic equipment. “
Some patients with COVID-19 who are in serious condition at the dilapidated-looking hospital are lying next to others who are recovering.
Oleksandra Kaldarar shares a room with her husband, Mykhailo, and their son, who use fans.
“The measures should have been stricter so that people were more protected,” she said.
Medical professionals say a national vaccination campaign that is due to start in March offers the best chance of improving the country’s dire situation.
“First, we look forward to vaccination. So it’s about understanding people, isolating yourself, taking care of each other, washing your hands, wearing masks correctly, neither under your nose, nor on your chin, limiting social contacts and avoiding crowds, ”said Zoryana Mashtaler, an anesthesiologist from Lviv . “However, we understand that people are people, and some of them are not following the rules, unfortunately. It is what it is.”
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Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Kiev, Ukraine.
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