Covid cases continue to drop but Cuenca hospitals need more beds for other patients

Although new Covid infections have reached a three-month low, Cuenca hospitals say they are running out of beds. According to the top administrator ta the Vicente Corral Moscoso public hospital, the number of patients with other diseases and victims of accidents has nearly doubled in recent weeks.

Patients in the Corral hospital intensive care ward. (El Comercio)

The situation is the same at the Social Security hospital and at least two private hospitals.

“At the moment, we are at full capacity with our ICU beds and and adapting new space for non-Covid patients,” says Vicente Corral Moscoso diector Iván Feicán. He added that he is mystified by the recent surge of accident victims. “They have suffered serious injuries in home, car and motorcycle accidents and require immediate attention based on their condition,” he said. He speculated that the rise in patients with serious diseases may be because of deferred care due to fear of the Covid-19 virus.

Feicán said that the hospital is erecting medical tents, provided by the United Nations Refugee Relief Agencies in a parking lot to handle the influx of the additional patients. Many of the new patients, he says, are Venezuelans.

According to  the regional health ministry office, Cuenca registered 355 new cases of Covid this week, the lowest number since early July.

Feicán says that 35 of the hospital’s 330 beds are currently occupied by Covid patients and that all ventilators are in use.