Doctor
(Photo : army.mil/ creativecommons)

A public Mexican hospital located in a northern steel town is currently being sanitized by the government after it has turned the center of COVID-19 widespread that has reportedly hit 26 members of the medical staff and killed one of its doctors. This said pandemic has raised doubts on the public health system's preparedness to combat an infectious disease that is starting to gain steam across the nation.

Mexico President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said on Thursday that around 80 public hospitals were undergoing conversion to handle people hit by COVID-19. He later on clarified that only segments of the said 80 hospitals were going through isolation with "eight beds, as well as ventilators" reserved exclusively, for patients with COVID-19. The president said they are preparing to have the required equipment and beds to treat the illness.

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Is Mexico Prepared for the Pandemic?

Despite the sanitizing initiative and the guaranteeing of the beds and equipment's availability, it remains unclear if Mexico is prepared for this pandemic. The government's COVID-19 spokesman, Hugo Lopez-Gatell said, only roughly 14,000 tests have been given across the country since the outbreak started. He added that "a donation of 50,000 tests" arrived on Wednesday form China.

Meanwhile, epidemiologists started to train staff at the hospital located in Monclova, Coahuila state, on how to deal with COVID-19 cases. More so, personal protective equipment (PPEs) arrived at the hospital on Wednesday, a day after a doctor died. This was according to the health officials in Mexico. Specifically, the public hospital reported that from the 39 reported cases, 26 of the medical workers are infected with COVID-19. This was confirmed by the public health system's Manuel Cervantes Ocampo.

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Doctor's Death 

Based on the Coahuila state government's statement, everyone working in the emergency department of the hospital is being screened from the illness' symptoms. In addition, Gov. Miguel Riquelme lamented Dr. Walberto Reyes's death saying, the nurses and doctors from other hospitals would be brought in "to fill the gaps in Monclova."

A retired nurse and long-time friend of the wife of Dr. Reyes, Saul Coronado said, the doctor first registered a fever with 105-degree temperature on Mar. 21. After three days, he was brought to the emergency room. Then, an evening after, he was transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) where he stayed for one week before he died on Mar. 31. Earlier on, Coronado shared an unidentified account on the days that led up to the illness of Dr. Reyes that he said a colleague at the hospital wrote and spread on social media.

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The anonymous account stated that one patient came to the ER on Mar. 15 and he reportedly had acute respiratory distress. As suggested by a chest X-ray, it was "atypical pneumonia." Moreover, an earlier consultation with an intensive care specialist said, the result was a possible COVID-19 infection. Relatively, the staff at the emergency requested for EPP but, reportedly, it was not provided. After four days, the patient, as stated in the account, was placed on a ventilator and in the entire week, he was in the ER. Consequently, three shifts of health care staff got exposed to him, who died eventually.