The Chilean hospital system is on the verge of collapse. 97% of critical beds are occupied, mostly with COVID-19 patients, while between 6,000 and 8,000 new infected are joining daily, about 800 of which require a ventilator to continue breathing after a few days, authorities warned Monday.
“The pandemic continues to wreak havoc and great pain,” said Health Minister Enrique Paris, adding that “we are facing a difficult situation regarding ICU (Intensive Care) bed occupancy.”
Healthcare Networks Undersecretary Alberto Dougnac reported in a press conference that more than 6,000 infected and 137 deaths had been added last day, bringing the number of infected to more than a million, while the number of deaths exceeds 24,000.
The government’s main concern is the occupancy of 97% of critical beds in intensive care units, receiving between 40 and 50 new patients with the virus every day. Chile has quadrupled its fan beds since the arrival of the pandemic to 4,158 this week, of which only 135 are available.
The Undersecretary of Health, Paula Daza, specified that 70% of those newly infected in the intensive care units (ICU) are between the ages of 20 and 59, most of whom have not been vaccinated, while those aged 70 in the ICU show that deterioration ‘, which the authorities attribute to the fact that most older adults have already been vaccinated with the two doses required by the Chinese immunizer Sinovac.
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Starting next Thursday, 90% of Chileans will be under full or partial quarantine, a measure designed to stop infections, as well as the closure of borders and restrictions on the sale of non-essential products.
President Sebastián Piñera and his health minister, Paris, assure the South American country will achieve mass immunity by the end of June, when the government hopes to vaccinate 80% of the 19 million Chileans. However, the claim has been questioned.
Former Health Minister Jaime Mañalich, pastor of Paris, confirmed the day before that “never” immunity to a herd will be achieved and that there could be “a security immunity” in September, while the Secretary of the Medical College of Chile , José Miguel Bernucci said on Monday that “most likely, in the best cases and with many people vaccinated, this will not be until the end of the year”.
Paris refused to argue with his predecessor, saying vaccination “is not the only solution,” reiterating the call for self-care. “We have said that in order to protect our population, we need to vaccinate at least 70% of the susceptible population,” he added.
“To maintain hope, we need to be united, not discuss, and make progress in both areas: care and vaccination, and keep very strict treatment of those patients who need hospitalization,” he said.
Chile vaccinated 7.3 million people, 38% of the total population, of whom more than 60% received the two doses of Sinovac. 88% of the immunized people received the Chinese vaccine and the remaining 12% the American one from Pfizer.
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