BEIRUT – Death stalks the corridors of Beirut Rafik Hariri University Hospital, where the loss of multiple patients in one day to COVID-19 has become a new normal. On Friday, the feeling among the staff was even more solemn as a young woman lost the battle with the virus.
There was silence when the woman, almost in her 30s, drew her last breath. Then a short puzzle. The nurses desperately tried to revive her. Eventually, exhausted, they quietly removed the oxygen mask and tubes – and covered the body with a brown blanket.
The woman, whose name has been withheld for privacy reasons, is one of 57 victims who died on Friday and more than 2,150 have been killed by the virus so far in Lebanon, a small country with a population of nearly 6 million who have been hit last year by the worst economic and financial crisis in modern history.
In the past few weeks, Lebanon has seen a dramatic rise in virus cases, following the holiday season when restrictions were eased and thousands of expatriates flew home to visit.
Now, hospitals across the country are almost completely out of beds. Oxygen tanks, air conditioners and essentially, medical staff, are scarce. Doctors and nurses say they are tired. Opposing firing, many of their colleagues left.
Many others have caught the virus, forcing them to take sick leave and leaving fewer and fewer colleagues for extra work to carry the burden.
For every posthumous bed, there are three or four patients waiting in the emergency room waiting to be replaced.
Mohammed Darwish, a nurse at the hospital, said he has been working six days a week to help with hospital admissions and is barely able to see his family.
“He’s tired. It’s a health sector that’s not good today, ”said Darwish.
More than 2,300 Lebanese health care workers have been infected since February, and about 500 of Lebanon ‘s 14,000 doctors have left the country in an emergency in recent months, according to the Physicians. The virus places an additional burden on the public health system that was on the verge of collapse as a result of the country’s financial crisis and inflation, as well as in the Beirut port explosion last summer. last year killed nearly 200 people, injured thousands, and destroyed entire sections of the city.
“Our awareness is that the country is falling apart,” World Bank Regional Director Saroj Kumar Jha told reporters at a high-profile news conference on Friday.
Across the city, at the University of America’s private Medical Center – one of the largest and most prestigious hospitals in Lebanon – space is being cleared to accommodate more patients.
But that is not enough, according to Dr. Pierre Boukhalil, head of the department of Pulmonary and Critical Care. It was clear that his staff went over a recent trip with the Associated Press, jumping from one patient to another amidst a steady beep of life-monitoring tools.
The situation “can only be described as a catastrophe or a tsunami in the making,” he said, speaking to the AP between examining his patients. “We’ve been growing capacity over the past week, and we’re not even keeping up with applications. This is not a let down. ”
Boukhalil Hospital lifted the warning last week, coming out with a statement saying their healthcare staff were horrified and unable to find beds for “even the most urgent patients . ”
Since the start of the holiday season, daily infections have hit about 5,000 in Lebanon, up from nearly 1,000 in November. The daily death toll exceeded 60 deaths in the last few days.
Doctors say that with more testing, the number of cases has also gone up – a common trend. The Lebanon vaccination program is expected to begin next month.
Darwish, the nurse, said many COVID-19 patients admitted to Rafik Hariri and especially in the ICU, are young, without underlying conditions or chronic diseases.
“They catch a corona and think everything is fine and then suddenly you find the patient has gone away and he suddenly and suddenly hits them. unfortunately they die, ”
On Thursday night, 65-year-old Sabah Miree was admitted to the hospital with respiratory problems. She was put on oxygen to breathe. Her two sisters had also contracted the virus but their case was moderate. Miree, who suffers from a heart problem, had to go to hospital.
“This disease is not a game,” she said, describing her struggle to breathe. “I would tell everyone to pay attention and not taking this lightly. “
A nationwide round-the-clock curfew imposed on Jan. 14 was extended on Thursday to Feb. 8 to help the health department deal with the virus.
“I still have nightmares when I see a 30-year-old man who has died,” said Dr. Boukhalil. “The disease could have been prevented. “
“So keep up the lock … it pays off,” he said.