Covid-19: the astonishing resilience of Venezuela
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All the rooms in the Covid-19 section are under negative pressure: the Pérez de Léon II hospital is the only one in the country to benefit from such a device.
© Marie Normand / RFI
Text by: Marie Normand Follow
10 mins
Despite a health system weakened by years of economic crisis, Venezuela has only deplored just over 1,000 deaths since March.
An official assessment that some specialized NGOs consider undervalued.
One of the public hospitals in Caracas that welcomes Covid19 patients has agreed to open its doors to RFI.
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From our special correspondent in Caracas
,
Venezuelan medical staff await the second wave with apprehension.
Indeed, after months of strict confinement, the government decreed in early December a month of “
total
flexibility
”, a few days before the legislative elections and the Christmas festivities.
Since Monday, January 4, Venezuelans have once again observed a phase of strict containment, with closings of non-essential businesses and for several weeks, only flights from Mexico, Bolivia and Turkey have been authorized to land in the Caracas airport.
To date, Médecins sans frontières, which operates in seven states of the country, says it observes an increase in positive cases, especially in the capital.
“The occupancy rate in hospitals is starting to increase and we are worried about what may happen in the next two weeks,
” says Isaac Alcalde, the NGO's coordinator in Venezuela.
However, at the Ana Francisca Pérez de Leon II hospital, located in Petare, a popular district of Caracas, the situation is stable according to its director.
“
We are witnessing a plateau phase
,” says Dr Zayra Medina.
Beds have even been removed in this public establishment authorized to accommodate Covid-19 patients.
Several thousand people have been hospitalized there since March.
The peak was observed in August.
"
We are ready, the beds are ready in case there is a second wave of the pandemic, as in Europe,"
explains Dr Allan Herrera.
More than fear, we have a deep respect for this virus.
Even if the death rate is not very high, it is a very ugly death, which we do not want
”.
"Here we do not lack either water or soap"
The entire ground floor is now reserved for these patients.
Outside, several tents dedicated to sorting and antigen and PCR tests have been set up in front of the facade.
Inside, "
all the rooms in the Covid-19 section are under negative pressure so that the virus does not spread by aerosol
", comments Dr Herrera.
It is the only hospital in the country to benefit from such a device, thanks to MSF which also organized the route of Covid-19 patients within the establishment.
“
It's a well designed one-way circuit.
And then in each area, there is a place to wash your hands,
”notes Dr Elsi Padilla.
“
Here, you never run out of soap and water
,” smiles another practitioner.
A detail that is not, in a country characterized for several years by the dilapidation of public hospitals.
The medical team says they are aware of working in a particularly privileged establishment, which also offers psychological support to its patients.
Venezuela has been hit by an economic recession for 7 years and by economic sanctions which make it more difficult to obtain basic goods.
"It's no secret that the vulnerability of patients to Covid-19 in Venezuela is partly due to the economic situation,
adds Dr Arquimedes Diaz
.
Many elderly patients have low incomes, which complicates their clinical picture
”.
The predicted disaster did not take place
Yet since March and the first positive case of Covid-19 recorded in Venezuela, the announced disaster has not taken place.
Officially, the pandemic has killed 1,047 people, while neighboring Colombia has recorded more than 44,000. These figures are underestimated according to the opposition and several specialized NGOs, which particularly regret the insufficient screening.
Despite everything, Venezuela's resilience is astonishing.
Some observers explain it by the forced isolation of Venezuelans, even before the pandemic, due to the crisis and US sanctions.
Gasoline shortages have a heavy impact on the mobility of the population, which also limits contagion.
Others praise the early and strict confinement decreed by the authorities in March: no commercial flights from abroad have landed in Venezuela for months, for example.
From June, the authorities applied a device called "7 + 7": the alternation of seven days of "radical" confinement, with the closure of non-essential businesses, and seven days of "flexibility".
To explain Venezuela's resistance to the pandemic, the director of the Ana Francisca Pérez de Leon II hospital underlines, for her part, "
the excellence
" of its health personnel.
“
We may be Venezuela, but we are setting an example for the whole world.
Third world countries also have specialists!
launches Dr Zayra Medina.
Moreover, here everything is done for free, under international agreements with countries such as Russia and China.
All of these countries are helping us.
Including the United States, through Médecins sans Frontières and other international organizations
”.
MSF forced to withdraw
In the "
gray zone
", an intermediate zone which separates the Covid-19 part from the rest of the establishment, a large frame collects the handprints, in paint, of all the cured patients, under the inscription "
Thank you MSF
" .
However, the NGO had to withdraw from the hospital in the fall for lack of visas for its foreign staff.
“
It's a mixture of sadness and frustration
,” comments Isaac Alcalde, MSF coordinator in Venezuela.
Our teams have made immense efforts, especially during the peak this summer in Caracas, to offer exceptional care.
It is difficult to understand why we did not obtain these permits when we have a work plan signed with the authorities for two years in 39 public structures ”.
While Venezuela fears a new wave, the lack of staff is, according to Isaac Alcalde, the main challenge for the country's public hospitals.
“
Our main added value was having hired staff,” he
explains.
At the Pérez de Leon II hospital, we had hired 150 people ”.
While thanking the NGO for its support, the director of the hospital maintains that this departure will not prevent the establishment from running.
“We have all the qualified staff necessary to provide top-
notch
service
,” assures Dr Zayra Medina.
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