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The head of Lebanon’s main coronavirus hospital said the country’s health system was on the verge of collapse – with not enough beds, medicine, oxygen, ventilators or staff.
In a blunt interview with Sky News, Dr Firas Abiad said the government’s decision to ease coronavirus restrictions for a fateful few days over Christmas and New Years had resulted in a huge increase in cases and deaths over the years. last weeks.
He allowed our cameras to enter the emergency department and intensive care unit at Rafic Hariri University Hospital in Beirut to see the pressure he and his staff are under.
Dr Abiad said all hospitals are reporting full or nearly full intensive care units – and many have patients stuck in emergency departments, waiting for a bed.
Dr Abiad said the government had thrown the healthcare system ‘into an abyss’
“Some patients are not able to find a bed and there have been several cases where patients have died in their homes,” he said.
“If you look at the sharp increase in cases, you see that Lebanon is really experiencing unprecedented COVID numbers, which exceed even our wildest predictions.
“The number of new daily cases has almost quadrupled from where we were almost a month ago,” said Dr Abiad.
“At the same time, we have seen that the number of deaths has also tripled and the number of intensive care patients has increased by almost 100%.
On December 17, four days before a nationwide lockdown ended, the government decided to ease a series of restrictions on the holiday period.
Under intense pressure from companies, they allowed nightclubs, bars and restaurants to open at 50% capacity while urging people to wear masks and maintain their social distancing.
But videos on social media over Christmas and New Years showed crowded clubs and bars. No attempt was made to suppress the violations.
“It is clear that these were catastrophic [decisions] and what happened is they threw the entire health system in the country into a major abyss, ”said Dr Abiad.
Cases in Lebanon nearly quadrupled, deaths tripled, and intensive care patients increased by almost 100%
In the emergency department, the pressures are obvious. There is a shortage of beds, medicine, oxygen, ventilators and staff.
It is a relatively modern hospital but it seems rare, except for the number of patients.
A nurse strokes the head of a patient.
“I’m passed out … I’m passed out,” he said to the nurse.
“No, no! You’re doing great. Don’t be afraid. Your oxygen is good. 99%. Honestly, it’s very good,” she reassures him.
In the next bed is Aida Derawi, 53 years old. She started to feel bad two weeks ago. Her family had hoped she would recover at home, but this week things got worse.
“Yesterday I felt I couldn’t take it anymore,” she says. “My back and lungs hurt. My children took me to find a hospital, but not a single one wanted to accept me.
Eventually space was found and she is slowly improving.
Nurse Hussein al Khazn tells us that in this wave of viruses, the majority of patients are no longer elderly.
Red Cross volunteer Waad Abdulaad is very much on the front line in Lebanon
“Much younger now,” he says. “Before, we had 50 patients aged 60.
“Now they’re 20, 25, 30 year old patients and they’re very, very critical – all of them.”
On the other side of town, we have access to the Lebanese Red Cross coordination center.
In a well-organized control room, a team of volunteers juggle phone calls from families of patients and radio calls to ambulance teams in the field.
“So she has coronavirus?” asks a volunteer across the board. “So is she short of breath?”
A radio message is sent to one of the expedition teams.
“We are being sent to see a patient who has tested positive for COVID and who is currently suffering from desaturation and vomiting,” explains volunteer doctor Waad Abdulaal from the passenger seat of the ambulance.
“So we’ll go ahead and assess him and see if there’s a need to take him to the hospital.”
Lebanon was already in a critical economic state.
Years of cumulative economic mismanagement have led to slow collapse in all sectors of society.
This was then exacerbated by the pandemic and the devastating port explosion Last year.
Paramedics carry 80-year-old woman down stairs in the dark due to another power outage
Walking up several flights of a stairwell, in the dark because of another power cut, the Red Cross team reached their patient.
Madame Imad is 80 years old. She tested positive last week and her diabetes is complicating her condition. She has to go to the hospital, but there’s a problem finding her a bed.
The positivity rate across the country last week was 21% (14-day moving average).
This means that the community spread of the virus is out of control. It has to be 5% before there is a chance to regain control of the crisis.
Calls are made and they believe a space has been found in a nearby hospital.
Madame Imad is carried down the stairs as her daughter Sophie looks straight into our camera and pleads: “Show them there are people dying before they arrive at the hospital. “
The elderly woman went to the hospital. But she was sent home. There were no beds. Her family told us her condition worsened over the weekend.
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