Paraguay has warned it has occupied all of its intensive care beds

As the first batch of vaccines arrived, amid mounting social tension due to lack of supply and the growing trend of coronavirus infections, with more than 2,000 new cases daily, Paraguay warned in last hours that all available intensive therapy beds are occupied.

“Todas las camas UTI están ocupadas. De las 655 camas que tenemos en el sector público y los hospitalales integrados y el Instituto de Previsión Social, tenemos actualmente 655 camas ocupadas”, advirtió Leticia Pintos, directora de Redes y Servicios de Salud del Ministerio de Public health.

The official added that there are 92 places outside of intensive care for resuscitation and these are also entirely with patients.

He also clarified that at the Itauguá National Hospital 16 additional beds will start functioning this weekend and pointed out that another 42 places were available at the Alto Paraná hospital, but that between Thursday and Friday, 30 of them were occupied.

The Deputy Minister of Comprehensive Health Care, Hernán Martínez, for his part mentioned that there was the possibility of resorting to a military establishment to receive more patients.

The news from the neighboring country is not at all encouraging. In the second week of March it was recorded a 40% increase in covid-19 cases with regard to the first week of the same month, according to Guillermo Sequera, head of the general directorate of health surveillance.

“If you compare with what it was a month ago, the number of cases that we have per week has practically doubled. There is also a very significant increase in the number of deaths that we have per week,” described Sequera, quoted by the news agency. Paraguayan IP. He also pointed out that the previous week the death record has been broken which had been reached in September.

The official explained that when countries enter an acceleration rate like that experienced by Paraguay, that rate is maintained between two and three weeks. “Then it can increase by 10%, stay on a plateau for two to three weeks and then hopefully go down again. It’s a bit of the panorama that awaits us in the next three or four weeks in the country.” explained the official Health Surveillance.

Paraguay received this Friday the first batch of 36,000 vaccines against covid-19 sent by the Covax mechanism of the World Health Organization (WHO), amid criticism from the government for its handling of the pandemic.

There have been strong protests in recent hours over a lack of supplies. Opposition MPs lodged a complaint against the government of Mario Abdo Benítez, which allegedly transferred money to the wrong account, which delayed the arrival of vaccines from the Covax mechanism and other materials from the Nations United and other foundations that supply the poorest. countries.

The country, which has again suspended face-to-face classes and limited distribution, records over 190,000 cases and that’s nearly 3,700 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to the latest report from the Ministry of Health.

Source: Télam and EFE.