1.4 thousand beds are allocated for patients with pneumonia and COVID-19 in medical institutions of the Vitebsk region.
1.4 thousand beds are allocated for patients with pneumonia and COVID-19 in medical institutions of the Vitebsk region. The flow of patients, with morbidity here reaching 90 percent of the spring peak, is currently being managed. At the same time, the emphasis is on outpatient and polyclinic work in order to preserve the bed fund for severely ill patients. Our conversation with the head of the regional headquarters for countering the spread of COVID-19, rector of the Vitebsk State Medical University Anatoly Shchastny, is about the specifics of the second wave of coronavirus infection in the region.
— Anatoly Tadeuszewich, what is specific about the autumn wave of coronavirus in the region?
— During the first wave of the pandemic, the regional center itself became the main focus of infection. Now, morbidity is evenly distributed throughout the region. Unlike the spring, when the virus caught the whole world off guard, we are ready for a tense epidemic situation. Having learned the lessons of the first wave, we have the opportunity to focus not on organizational, but more on medical issues. And I can assure you: personal protective equipment, medicines, and oxygen are sufficient.
We are focusing on strengthening and operating the outpatient and polyclinic link. In order not to overload the hospital, patients with coronavirus infection without pneumonia or with no clinical manifestations at all are treated on an outpatient basis, at home. At the same time, their condition is strictly monitored, and hospitalization is considered at the slightest deterioration.
— It is no secret that the lion's share of success in combating COVID-19 is in the hands of competent medical personnel…
— Sincere words of gratitude to all our healthcare professionals, true professionals who remain on the front line. Medical students are coming to the aid of their senior colleagues. As early as last spring, about 200 students from the Vitebsk Medical University were sent to medical facilities in the region. Not so long ago, student medical teams joined them, operating in Polotsk, Novopolotsk, and Orsha. About 40 students are also working in call centres, making calls to first-level contacts who are self-isolating. Additional positions have been created in Vitebsk polyclinics for home visits to such patients by senior students of VGMU. There is also a reserve of medical students (approximately 190 people) ready to lend a hand during this challenging period for healthcare.
— Are there any innovations in the Vitebsk region in the fight against the virus?
— At the initiative of the Main Department for Healthcare of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, a special mobile application has been launched in the region. The technologies currently used by our students allow them to monitor the well-being of coronavirus patients and first-level contacts. Essentially, this application is a mobile questionnaire, filled out during a visit to a patient, taking into account everything: body temperature, blood oxygen saturation…
This means that the entire process of patient management at the outpatient stage is readily available. The data is processed and promptly sent to the polyclinic's coordination centre. A significant advantage is that this allows for the creation of a database for virtually every patient, tracking and predicting the clinical picture.
— Which healthcare institutions have been repurposed today?
— Since November, the Vitebsk Regional Clinical Maternity Hospital has been operating in a new mode to provide care for pregnant women and gynaecological patients with COVID-19 infection. Recently, the surgical building of the Regional Oncology Dispensary, with 150 beds, began admitting patients with coronavirus infection. Places have been allocated for rehabilitation at the "Yurtsevo" hospital in the Orsha district. Recovering patients from Vitebsk and neighbouring regions are being treated at the rehabilitation centre for internationalist soldiers and the centre for psychiatry and narcology. The rehabilitation department "Zheleznyaki" of the Vitebsk Regional Clinical Cardiology Centre is also being used for these purposes.
— And one of the most pressing questions: when is it possible to reach the plateau?
— It is too early to give specific forecasts. Preliminarily, we hope to reach a plateau, when the number of new infections remains the same for a prolonged period, by mid-December. At the same time, it is important to remember that the course of the disease depends not only on the efforts of medical workers, but primarily on the responsibility of each person and the society's determination to resist the infection.
It is not a total quarantine that will help defeat the virus, but high self-discipline and distancing.