Madrid Hospitals Overflow With Covid Patients As Third Wave Hits
Video footage has emerged from a hospital visitor who filmed a ward filled to almost double its capacity amid a spike in COVID-19 cases in Madrid following the festive period.
The footage was filmed at La Paz Hospital in the north-west of Madrid and has been widely shared on social media.
The video shows a visitor walking through a ward crammed with patients wearing face masks.
Local newspaper 20 Minutos said the ward is meant for up to 12 patients, but was forced to treat 21 due to the sudden increase in coronavirus cases. (https://bit.ly/2N6Sq98)
Hospital nurse, Guillen del Barrio told 20 Minutos the room was “not prepared” to hold so many people as it lacks proper ventilation leading to higher concentrations of the virus in the air, further endangering medical staff and other patients as some of them were only suspected of COVID-19.
Del Barrio added that ICUs are also filling up and the hospital only has seven available beds for critical cases.
The Gregoria Maranon Hospital, another main public hospital in Madrid, has reported similar conditions with one of its staff calling the centre “chaotic”.
She said as many as 68 patients were waiting for a bed while others remain in the hospital after being discharged as they are unable to get home due to the poor road conditions caused by Storm Filomena.
The snow-and-ice-covered roads have also made it impossible for ambulances to transport patients to the Nurse Isabel Zendal Hospital which opened in December last year to treat COVID-19 patients, further leading to an overflow of patients in public hospitals.
The Nurse Isabel Zendal Hospital is set to open a second pavilion where they will treat a further 350 patients presenting mild to moderate symptoms as they are also filling up to capacity.
Local newspaper Nius said the capital city reported over 100 new hospitalised patients in 24 hours reaching a total of 2,733 hospitalised patients, the highest since 2,787 were being treated during the second wave in October last year.
The autonomous communities of Valencia and Catalonia are also preparing for another wave of the virus following the recent festive period.
The latest Ministry of Health figures show that 92% of the Madrid region´s 286 “basic health areas” have in excess of 400 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
