Mozambique: Young people with no chronic disease are now hospitalised, suffering severe Covid-19 symptoms – Watch

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Mozambique: Young people with no chronic disease are now hospitalised, suffering severe Covid-19 symptoms – Watch

8:09 CAT | 27 Feb 2021

Photo: O País

Maputo’s Polana Caniço Covid-19 isolation and treatment centre is seeing an increase in the number of young people hospitalised with severe symptoms, despite having no comorbidities or chronic diseases.

Eight Polana Caniço nurses now have Covid-19, putting remaining personnel under pressure.

The number of coronavirus cases is increasing, and more people are exposed to the disease – doctors at the forefront of fighting the pandemic included. The virus may have penetrated the protective clothing of at least eight nurses in Maputo’s largest Covid-19 isolation and treatment centre. It is presumed that they were infected at their workplace.

All the nurses are now recovering at home, increasing the workload on other personnel in the health unit.

The situation did not result in “the doubling of shifts, but the doubling of work”, says Reginalda Massingue, a doctor at Polana Caniço. “If, before, we had one nurse for 10 patients, with one of two nurses off work, we now have one for 20 patients. So, work and pressure have increased.”

Currently, the are 71 patients in the centre, which has 120 beds. Among the patients are seriously ill young people who have no associated chronic disease.

“What we are seeing now is young people aged between 24 and 26 years old. So there is no longer the conception that the disease attacks only the elderly or patients with other chronic diseases,” Massingue points out.

“We have to think about others a lot, because we do not know what their immunity is like, and their ability to respond,” the doctor warns. “We have four patients aged between 20 and 30 years hospitalized, without any chronic illness.”

Nevertheless, the unit is now under less pressure than it was in January and the beginning of February, and daily deaths currently average three.

“January was the busiest month.” In previous months, “we were relaxed. We thought that cases were decreasing, and there was a reduction both in patients admitted to Polana Caniço and those diagnosed” with the disease.

January saw the peak of infections which overwhelmed inpatient centres and hospitals. In terms of hospitalizations, 256 patients and more than five deaths per day were registered, Doctor Massingue said.

The availability of oxygen in the isolation and treatment centre has also improved.

By Dario Cossa

Source: O País