Chinese medical employees claim COVID-19 is ravaging their ranks
As patients with largely mild symptoms flood hospitals and clinics, a rising number of China’s doctors and nurses are contracting COVID-19, and some have been requested to continue working, according to medical professionals and dozens of posts on social media.
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Infections among medical workers were the subject of a request for comment, but China’s health administration did not answer right away.
According to health experts, China’s abrupt relaxation of its tight COVID regulations is anticipated to result in an increase in severe cases in the upcoming months, and hospitals in major cities are already under difficulty.
Although Reuters was unable to quickly confirm hospital waiting lists and bed occupancy rates, images that went viral on social media showed patients in Beijing and the nearby city of Baoding waiting for hours to receive medical attention.
The majority of COVID instances documented in the nation are minor or asymptomatic, according to health experts, who also advise persons with mild symptoms to quarantine at home.
“There are too many patients for our hospital. Every day, 700,800 people with fever arrive “said a physician with the last name Li working at a tertiary hospital in Sichuan.
“We are now awaiting delivery from our suppliers since we are running low on cold and fever medication stockpiles. There are no specific protective precautions for medical employees, therefore I assume many of us will soon become infected. A few nurses at the fever clinic tested positive “Li threw in.
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When infections spiked in Hong Kong earlier this year, Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at Hong Kong University, said a lack of medical facilities to handle an overabundance of COVID cases contributed to a spike in deaths there. He also predicted that the same was going to happen in China.
“We simply lacked the hospital resources to handle the spike, which is one of the reasons we had such a high fatality rate (in Hong Kong). Unfortunately, that is what will occur on the mainland in roughly one to two months “explained Cowling.
