BEIRUT (AP) – Death spans the corridors of Rafik Hariri University Hospital in Beirut, where losing multiple patients to COVID-19 in one day has become the new norm. On Friday, the mood among the staff was even more solemn when a young woman lost the battle with the virus.
There was a pause as the woman, barely in her thirties, took her last breath. Then a short commotion. The nurses frantically tried to resuscitate her. Finally, exhausted, they quietly removed the oxygen mask and the hoses – and covered the body with a brown blanket.
The woman, whose name is declined for privacy reasons, is one of 57 victims who died Friday and more than 2,150 have been killed by the virus so far in Lebanon, a small country of nearly 6 million inhabitants that has been struggling since last year. with the worst economic and financial crisis in its modern history.
In recent weeks, Lebanon has seen a dramatic increase in the number of virus cases, following the holiday season when restrictions were relaxed and thousands of expats flew home for a visit.
Now hospitals across the country are almost completely out of bed. Oxygen tanks, fans and especially medical personnel are scarce. Doctors and nurses say they are exhausted. Many of their colleagues experienced burnout and left.
Many others have contracted the virus, forcing them to take sick leave and fewer colleagues working overtime to carry the burden.
On every bed that becomes available after a death, three or four patients wait for the emergency room to take their place.
Mohammed Darwish, a nurse at the hospital, said he has worked six days a week to help with rising hospital admissions and barely sees his family.
“It’s exhausting. It’s a health sector that isn’t good at all these days,” said Darwish.
More than 2,300 Lebanese health workers have been infected since February, according to the Order of Physicians, and about 500 of the 14,000 Lebanese doctors have left the crisis-ridden country in recent months. The virus puts an additional burden on a public health system already on the brink due to the currency crash and inflation in the country, as well as the fallout from the massive explosion of the Beirut port last summer killing nearly 200 people, injuring thousands and devastating entire parts of the city.
“We feel the country is falling apart,” Saroj Kumar Jha, World Bank regional director, told reporters at a virtual press conference Friday.
At Rafik Hariri University Hospital, the government’s main coronavirus facility, there are currently 40 beds in the ICU – all full. According to the World Health Organization, hospitals in Beirut have a capacity of 98%.
Across town, the privately-owned American University Medical Center – one of Lebanon’s largest and most prestigious hospitals – is freeing up space to house more patients.
But that’s not enough, according to Dr. Pierre Boukhalil, head of the pulmonary and critical care department. His staff were clearly overwhelmed during a recent visit by The Associated Press, where they jumped from one patient to another amid the constant beep-beep of life-monitoring machines.
The situation “can only be described as a near disaster or tsunami in the making,” he said, speaking to the AP in between checking his patients. “We’ve been consistently increasing capacity over the past week, and we’re not even keeping up with demand. This will not stop. ”
Boukhalil hospital raised the alarm last week, issuing a statement saying health workers were overwhelmed and unable to find beds for “even the most critical of patients.”
Since the start of the holiday season, daily infections in Lebanon have fluctuated around 5,000, against almost 1,000 in November. The daily death toll has hit a record of more than 60 deaths in recent days.
Doctors say that with more testing, the number of cases has also increased – a common trend. Lebanon’s vaccination program starts next month.
The World Bank said on Thursday it has approved $ 34 million to help pay for vaccines for Lebanon that will inoculate more than 2 million people.
Jha, the World Bank’s regional director, said Lebanon will import 1.5 million doses of Pfizer vaccines for 750,000 people “we fully fund”. He added that the World Bank also plans to help fund vaccines other than Pfizer in the Mediterranean country.
Darwish, the nurse, said that many COVID-19 patients admitted to Rafik Hariri and especially in the ICU are young, with no underlying conditions or chronic illnesses.
“They catch corona and they think everything is okay and then all of a sudden you see the patient deteriorate and it suddenly hits them and unfortunately they die,”
On Thursday evening, 65-year-old Sabah Miree was admitted to hospital with breathing problems. She was given oxygen to help her breathe. Her two sisters had also contracted the virus, but their case was mild. Miree, who suffers from a heart problem, had to be hospitalized.
“This disease is not a game,” she said, describing how difficult it is for her to keep breathing. “I would tell everyone to watch out and not take this lightly.”
A nationwide curfew imposed on Jan. 14 was extended to Feb. 8 on Thursday to help the health sector deal with the virus surge.
“I still have nightmares when I see a 30-year-old who has passed away,” said Dr. Boukhalil. “The disease could have been prevented.”
“So stick with the lockdown … it pays off,” he said.