LVIV, Ukraine (AP) – A medical university in western Ukraine has been transformed into a temporary hospital as the coronavirus engulfs the Eastern European country.
The college foyer in the city of Lviv can accommodate 50 beds for COVID-19 patients, and 300 more are placed in lecture halls and auditoriums to accommodate the plethora of people seeking care in a packed emergency hospital nearby.
The head of the hospital’s therapy department, Marta Sayko, said the space in the university has doubled the treatment capacity. She hopes a broad lockdown ordered Friday will ease the burden on the Ukrainian healthcare system.
“As the number of cases is now increasing, more patients are entering a severe condition with signs of respiratory failure,” said Sayko.
The extensive government lockdown has closed schools, gyms and entertainment venues and bans table service in restaurants until January 25. Ukraine, with a population of 42 million, has reported more than 1.1 million confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 20,000 deaths in the pandemic. .
Many medical workers have criticized the government for not ordering the closure until after the Christmas and New Year holidays, rather than angering the public.
“We have seen large-scale New Year celebrations in almost every city,” said Borys Ribun, head of the regional pathology office in Lviv. ‘I think there will be consequences. We will see them in a week or two. “
A conflict with Russian-backed separatists in the eastern part of Ukraine, now entering its seventh year, has further drained the country’s corruption-ridden economy. Controversial reforms that cut government subsidies weakened the country’s health care system, leaving hospital workers underpaid and ill-equipped.
In the town of Rudky near Lviv, most of the local doctors have reached retirement age.
“The exodus of specialists going abroad is a problem for small hospitals like ours,” said Roman Pukalo, Rudky Hospital’s chief physician. “Salaries don’t meet basic human needs. And our material foundation is outdated, to say the least. We do not have normal diagnostic equipment. “
Some COVID-19 patients in serious condition in the run-down looking hospital lie next to others who are recovering.
Oleksandra Kaldarar shares a room with her husband, Mykhailo, and their son, who are both on fans.
“The measures should have been stricter so that people would be better protected,” she said.
Medical workers say a national vaccination campaign expected to start in March offers the best chance of improving the country’s dire situation.
“First of all, we hope for the vaccination. Then understanding people, isolation, taking care of each other, washing hands, wearing masks properly, not under the nose, not on the chin, is limiting social contacts and avoiding crowds, ”says Zoryana Mashtaler, a anesthetist from Lviv. “However, we understand that people are people, and some of them unfortunately don’t follow the rules. It is what it is.”
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Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Kiev, Ukraine.
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