Madagascar: Tamatave has become the home of the Covid-19 epidemic

Text by: RFI Follow

The Big Island has 326 cases of coronavirus, including two deaths in Tamatave. While for the past week, the majority of new Covid-19 cases have been concentrated in this city, district deputy Roland Ratsiraka, mayor of this locality and former minister, is sounding the alarm about the management of the epidemic in the country's largest port.

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With our correspondent in Antananarivo, Laetitia Bezain

In Tamatave, only one hospital, the CHU of Morafeno, is authorized to receive patients with coronavirus. As of Monday, asymptomatic cases, which had previously been treated in this facility, were placed in a social home. Roland Ratsiraka, one of the city's deputies, is alarmed by the lack of equipment to manage this influx of patients. “  We are in a total crisis in terms of equipment. We asked for cars from Tamatave. It's been a month already and nothing has been delivered. In the hospital reserved for Covid-19 patients, the scanner is not working. Regarding health personnel, they do not have enough protections, overcoats, etc. The nurses told me that they wash their FFP2 masks. I am ashamed to say it, but the situation is very serious, especially in my city. The number of Covid-19 cases explodes. So I would like the government to hear what I say there, and that we be a priority and that we receive the consumables and sanitary equipment. I am a friend of those who run today. I am with them, but I cannot hide this kind of problem.  "

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Contacted, the Ministry of Health confirms that the hospital scanner is "  broken  " but indicates that "  the health workers who treat the authentic patients of Covid-19 have protective equipment to standards and in sufficient quantity.  " 

"  The available equipment is limited and it is starting to crumble, with the number of cases constantly increasing  ," said a doctor at the Morafeno teaching hospital on the phone. "  What we will miss the most are the overalls and overalls," he continues. If we don't have a supply in the next few days, we risk being bothered.  For the time being, the hospital, which has 70 beds, is caring for 39 Covid-19 patients. "  But that does not mean that we can receive 70 patients at the same time, because we cannot mix the patients who are at the end of treatment and those who have just arrived, who are still very contaminating, specifies he. It is also necessary to manage the rooms according to the sex of the people, and some patients require sick guards. This increases the occupancy of the beds.  "

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• Madagascar
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