A large fire in a hospital in Santiago increases pressure on the health system in the pandemic – telam

A voracious fire at San Borja Hospital, one of the most important health centers in Santiago de Chile, forced the evacuation of patients, many with coronavirus, as the pandemic broke out in which much of the health system is functioning to the best of its ability.

The incident, which left no deaths or injuries, began around 7:30 a.m. on the fourth floor of the building, where the boilers are located, for which an “internal evacuation” of several floors was immediately ordered to the interior courtyard. . , the National Emergency Office said via its website.

Prosecutor Fernando Ruiz, responsible for investigating what happened, indicated that a first hypothesis, based on information provided by hospital staff, is that the fire was started by a short- circuit.

“This will have to be determined with the expertise that will be carried out and which could ultimately confirm the hypothesis of a power failure,” said the legal official quoted by the El Mercurio site.

Extensive police, military, fire and health care personnel have been put in place to help evacuate patients from inside to a parking lot or safe area outside the sanatorium, with measures sanitary facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As firefighters entered the enclosure loaded with hoses and special equipment, health workers left the same stretchers with the patients, many of whom were in critical condition, as the hospital specializes in medical situations. very complex, the news agency reported.

Health Minister Enrique Paris told a press conference from the scene of the incident that four hospitals in the capital offered availability to receive evacuated patients.

“Coronavirus patients must be transferred with much more caution. They need to be removed from the mechanical ventilator, disconnected from infusion pumps and monitors, transferred to a special stretcher with a monitor and portable ventilation, and transferred to more complex ambulances, ”he said the holder of the health portfolio.

The fire comes at a time when the Covid-19 pandemic in Chile is reappearing, when much of the healthcare system is operating at its maximum capacity.

The future San Borja operation is currently unknown, although Santiago Fire Commander Gabriel Huerta has ruled out the possibility of a collapse and informed the press that after bringing the fire under control, an assessment of the damage .

“Regarding the functioning of the hospital, this is something that needs to be evaluated. At the moment, we think that the hospital is probably not operational today, that’s why we are getting quotas. transfer “, said the undersecretary of the Health Networks, Alberto Dougnac.

The official, quoted by the newspaper La Tercera, clarified that among the patients with Covid-19, eight were under mechanical breathing, but stressed that “all are out of danger”.

The coronavirus left over 4,000 new infections a day for a month and, due to the increase in cases, several patients had arrived at San Borja Hospital from other areas to ease the burden on hospitals. other parts of the country.

The fear is that it will again reach 90% occupancy of critical beds in the metropolitan area, which occurred between June and July when the pandemic reached its peak in Chile.

Despite the call from the government and other institutions to take care of themselves, nearly a million Chileans have gone on vacation to different spas, a situation that keeps regional authorities on the alert for possible outbreaks on the beaches and in the big cities when tourists return.

Chile reported 4,160 cases of the coronavirus this Saturday, to climb to more than 722,000 since the start of the pandemic, while authorities have reported 82 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 18,339.

The Department of Health also said 56,711 people had received at least the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

On December 24, 2020, the vaccination campaign began in Chile with the arrival of the first shipment of 10,000 doses of Pfizer, which were used to inoculate the first priority group, the staff working directly in the intensive care units.

The country received a batch of around 1,920,000 doses of the vaccine developed by Chinese laboratory Sinovac on Thursday and a similar shipment is expected to arrive this Sunday to begin the mass vaccination campaign on February 3.