Hospitals and ICUs saturated, medics fatigued

The constant growth of coronavirus cases has brought Panama hospitals to saturation point in wards hospitalization rooms and intensive care units said Dr. Julio Sandoval, a member of the new thematic committee created this Friday after the departure of Rosario Turner, as Minister of Health

“The doctors and medical staff are fatigued, we are making superhuman efforts so that the system does not collapse,” Sandoval adding that consideration should be given to “opening the convention centers and even expanding the hospital hotel networks to deal with the crisis.

Sandoval’s statements add to the concern of Reinaldo Chandler, a pulmonologist and internist working on the front line of the fight against COVID-19, who said that “there is enormous pressure” in each of the hospitals.

.The country’s largest hospitals, such as Santo Tomás, the Metropolitan Complex, San Miguel Arcángel, Nicolás Solano and Irma de Lourdes Tzanetatos, have had to restructure rooms to accommodate more patients.

“There are patients with other pathologies who have not been able to be hospitalized, although they may require it, due to the occupation of these beds,” said Chandler