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More and more patients. In the last week, the number of people affected by coronavirus has increased sevenfold in Madrid. Today, the count made by the Ministry of Health places them at 7,165. A situation that falls in hospitals like a real "science fiction movie or the scene of the musicians who were playing on Titanic while the ship sank, says an anonymous doctor. Madrid hospitals have had to readapt their resources and spaces against the clock And even so, "almost everyone is starting to get saturated," says Jesús García, a nurse and spokesperson for the Satse union in Madrid.

This was the case this Friday with the Severo Ochoa Hospital in Leganés, in which the emergency department no longer has space for Covid-19 patients. According to sources consulted by this newspaper, "armchairs have been removed from the rooms on the floors and from the Town Hall to place them in the corridors and serve more people. Not one more stretcher enters." They have reached full capacity and new patients are being referred to nearby hospitals such as October 12.

It is not an isolated case. "Practically all emergencies in the Community of Madrid are saturated, with hundreds of patients waiting for results and hospital admission. ICUs are on the edge," says the nurse. And that the hospital centers are making efforts to readjust spaces and resources. For example, in less than 24 hours, the La Paz Hospital transferred its entire Psychiatry unit to the Dr. Rodríguez Lafora Hospital , in Colmenar Viejo.

"Ambulatory major surgery rooms [where interventions of hernias of the abdominal wall or the removal of benign breast lesions, for example] are being made for ICU beds, delivery rooms that are transferred to other health centers, obstetrics that are they go to pediatrics ... There are exclusive plants for Covid-19 in all hospitals and one of them (the Infanta Leonor) is already completely dedicated to this pneumonia, "explains Jesús García. In short, "there will be many more because the maximum peak has not yet reached."

Fernando Simón himself, director of the Center for Health Alerts and Emergencies, admitted today that "we have some healthcare units under stress near the limit." This would be the case of the "Príncipe de Asturias Hospital in Alcalá, the Gregorio Marañón, Getafe, La Paz ... Almost all are on the verge of saturation," says the Satse spokesman in Madrid.

Without forgetting that even today, says this nurse, "in some health centers there are professionals working with surgical masks, a paper gown with a plastic apron or gowns made with garbage bags." Apparently, according to Jesús García, "many of them are looking for integral face protection screens on their own from other sectors such as construction or painting." In other words, the necessary material is not yet reaching all the hospitals.

In addition, as "we have not been routinely tested, health professionals have continued to work with symptoms. We have become vectors of contagion. Although it is improving, there are people who continue to work with symptoms," says the nurse.

Among other requests, the unions are committed to reducing the hours in Covid-19 services and guarantee breaks. "Spending seven or 10 hours with personal protective equipment on means heat, stress, stress, poor visibility and significant wear and tear " which is in addition to accompanying patients who are alone at the end of their lives and the choice there is What to start when treating those affected. "Three months ago we were able to intubate people who are no longer intensive care subsidiaries."

Health professionals are leaving their souls behind. "In some hospitals, psychological care is being offered and we are all asking for it. It is like a continuous 11M. Patients do not stop arriving, the ICUs are overflowing, the nursing staff cry out and some stay overnight in the hospital to avoid spreading To his family".

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