The doctor Jose Luis Vergara directs the intensive care medicine at the “Luis Vernaza” hospital in Ecuador’s most badly affected city, Guayaquil. In the fight against COVID-19, he infected himself with the virus. In conversation, he looks for words to describe the complete overwhelming of his country
People in front of a hospital. There is haze in the air, despair on the faces. “All are waiting. We are waiting for oxygen, but we do not know when it will come, “says a woman’s voice behind the cell phone camera.
The picture of a stairwell, the floor is covered with black body bags. You are full.
Another new mobile phone, yet another scene: a young man walks through an extinct street, not a single white cloud can be seen in the blue sky. But white sheets are lying on the street. A foot peeps out from under a pile of sheets. “My buddy died here because of breathing problems. Then they put him outside the door. ” The voice of the young man filming himself and the street is about to break. He swings his phone to a group of police officers across the street. “The police are over there. But they told me they can’t take him with them. We have to wait a day longer with the abandoned body here on the sidewalk. ”
Another picture: dead people in the operating room. One more thing: Patients slipped from their plastic chairs to the floor, died in the hospital while waiting for treatment.
Cardboard coffins and columns of smoke
There are great horrors that mostly reproduce on small screens. Because the situation of Ecuador, and in particular of the port city of Guayaquil, is revealed to the world primarily through social networks. The cell phone videos make it clear what the statistics cannot say enough: Ecuador has become the Latin American Center of the corona pandemic.
The port city of Guayaquil is the hardest hit. Around 70 percent of all cases are registered here. From Guayaquil, it is said that about 100 bodies are collected every day – and many remain on the street for several days. Meanwhile, according to the CNN, cardboard coffins are being distributed in the port city so that the deceased can be cared for somewhere. Some also burn their dead relatives because they don’t know what to do with them. But in Guayaquil, there is not only a shortage for the dead. The living also suffers from shortages. For example, there are not enough test kits to be able to test all people with COVID 19 symptoms.
When the most important doctor in a hospital becomes a patient
One who has been tested is José Luis Vergara, a specialist in internal medicine and head of intensive care at the Luis Vernaza Hospital in Guayaquil. He fought the virus on the front line – before he infected himself with it. Vergara is not an isolated case; around 40 percent of those infected in Ecuador come from the medical sector, according to research by “Der Spiegel”.
Jose Luis Vergara: The biggest problem is bad government information. She informed far too late, which led to many more people becoming infected. However, this information is now slowly becoming more controlled and better. Then there is the completely overwhelmed healthcare system. In my hospital, there are 30 beds in the intensive care unit. At the moment, however, I have at least 60 people who need ventilation. In terms of the equipment in my hospital, I simply cannot help these people.
Couldn’t your hospital prepare for the pandemic?
Illusory we thought we were prepared. According to the requirements of the authorities, we set up a room for COVID 19 patients in my hospital, with 1200 security units for the staff. But the equipment was not enough. The virus hit us like a tsunami. It was only in the second week that we started to react. During this time, I infected myself.
How are you today?
I underwent intensive therapy at the urging of my family and colleagues. I was able to leave the hospital two days ago, and I am now well on the way to getting well again. Because my immune system made antibodies against the virus, I now donate blood plasma. We will use it on new patients tomorrow. We hope that it will act as a passive vaccine that will transfer the antibodies to the coronavirus from my blood plasma into the plasma of a newly ill, helping him fight the disease faster.
Can all patients who request help be treated at all?
No. Some patients are very bad, some pass out because we no longer have the capacity to help them. When a patient is admitted, we differentiate between patients who have to go to an emergency immediately because they are very bad and those who are not so bad yet and who can wait a little longer. We cannot do more than we do, we have reached our limit. We are currently treating only COVID-19 patients.
What happens to the deceased?
The Ministry of Health is responsible for ensuring that the bodies are picked up – immediately.
How do you protect your people from infection?
The situation completely overwhelms the hospitals and staff and demands a great deal from them. In my team, all employees now get chloroquine. This is a malaria prophylaxis that has an antiviral and a strengthening effect on the immune system. The hospital staff is there day and night. But we are not heroes, we are doctors. And we work for our patients.
What does your hospital need, what does Ecuador need to get the situation under control?
We need more, more, more of everything – support, help, protective clothing. We also lack medication so that we can work. I don’t know what it’s like in other hospitals. But we are dependent on the medication being delivered. The authorities are responsible for this, we have to trust that they work well.
What do you expect for the next days and weeks?
This pandemic will be very painful for my country. She met us completely unprepared. In the first few weeks, we were completely overrun. We were insufficiently prepared for it. Now we have the situation under control. We can treat more patients properly. And we have already been able to let people go home safely. But I expect it to get a lot worse in the next few weeks because the curve with the new infections increases sharply.
