Frontliners Protest: Is Their PPE Enough?
Recent reports about the protest of doctors and other health personnel in Mexico have been circulating different media outlets. These reports state that a lot of medical staff from various Mexican hospitals are protesting for the lack of PPE and other supplies needed to take care of COVID-19 cases.
The Uncontrollable Spread of COVID-19 Due to the Lack of PPE
Earlier this week, during a protest in the capital of the country, health personnel from the Regional Hospital 1 de Octubre expressed criticisms on the death and spread of the novel coronavirus and blames such results to the insufficiency of PPEs.
Additionally, experts from UNAM affirmed that the deadly SARS-CoV-2 is spreading throughout Mexico. However, the cases are not correctly reported because most of them are being recorded as an acute respiratory infection.
According to the specialist, it is probable that the majority of the cases are of medium to moderate severity. It tends to affect 80 percent of the affected population.
Dismissing Mexican Doctors and Nurses to Reduce Exposure to High-Risk Staff
Victor Hugo Borja Aburto, director of the Mexican Social Security Institute's, also known as IMSS, said that the institute is using strategies to lessen the exposure of high-risk staff. This is why more or less 20,000 employees, including doctors and nurses, were dismissed from duty.
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Benefits for Personnel Taking Care of COVID-19 Patients
Aburto also said that staff who takes care of COVID-19 patients are given a bonus of a maximum of 20 percent of their salary.
In Michoacán, Governor Silvano Aureoles Conejo announced that doctors and nurses who are tasked to take care of COVID-19 patients would be given a 60 percent increase in their salaries.
The Lack of PPEs and Other Necessary Supplies
In Yucatán, medical students from various schools have halted their services for the insufficiency of PPEs and other supplies needed to protect them from fighting COVID-19.
According to a statement by Baja California's governor Jaime Bonilla, the IMSS doctors are similar to falling flies because of the lack of PPEs to protect them from COVID-19.
This is an indication of the difficulties that health workers have to go through to fight the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus while still protecting themselves from contracting the deadly virus. Also, there is a need for more coordination between the federal and local authorities to address this concern, says an article.
In the entire Mexican region, Baja California ranks 14 in the country's population. It is shocking news to find out that this Mexican state ranks third among the states of Mexico with the most COVID-19 confirmed cases considering its population.
On Monday, it was reported that there are 335 cases and 25 deaths due to COVID-19. In California, USA, 24,139 people were reported to have contracted the virus, and 727 people lost their battle with the illness as of Monday.
The trade and personal flow between Baja California and California have made the Mexican State of Baja California, one with the highest COVID-19 cases.
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