As of April 28, Russia reported nearly 100,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and nearly 1,000 deaths. Those numbers make Russia the eighth-hardest-hit country in the world.
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Hospitals have become overrun with patients, leaving ambulances stuck idling in long lines outside hospitals just to deliver sick patients. At least one driver had to wait about 15 hours. Moscow might run out of intensive care unit beds before the end of this week. And nurses have quit en masse to protest poor working conditions and low pay.
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Judy Twigg, an expert on Russia’s health care system at Virginia Commonwealth University, told me the long lines could be a function of Russia’s policy to have some hospitals treat only coronavirus patients while others handle only non-infected clients. While that may make treatment inside the coronavirus facility more efficient, it limits the amount of space available to those with the disease.
Dr. Vasiliy Vlassov, an epidemiologist at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow, told me that the “government continues to open more and more hospitals for Covid-19 patients, and they are filled quickly.” Thus, it seems the amount of patients continues to reach the country’s health care capacity.
But the situation inside Russia’s coronavirus hospitals isn’t great, either.
Experts say a lot of the equipment Russian hospitals have, including ventilators, break down with alarming frequency. Russia is having more produced, but it’s unclear if those who need them will have them in time, especially as the rich hoard them.
From the article:
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