Short-staffed Tunisian Hospital fights Coronavirus Spike

Short-staffed Tunisian hospital fights coronavirus spike
Short-staffed Tunisian hospital fights coronavirus spike

In the courtyard of Ibn Jazzar Hospital in Kairouan, Tunisia, a guy in protective gear rapidly but gently drapes a black sheet over a COVID-19 victim lying out in a coffin. Loved ones and other hospital visitors scream “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is great,”. The man then folds a white sheet on top of the black and sprinkles the body with disinfectant from a tiny bottle.

COVID-19 wards of hospitals overfilled

According to data from Johns Hopkins University, confirmed viral infections in Tunisia have reached their highest daily levels since the pandemic began.  Despite this, the vaccination rate remains low in the country. According to the data, Tunisia has the greatest per-capita death toll from the pandemic in Africa. The nation also has one of the highest per-capita infection rates.

Because of such outcomes, patients have overfilled COVID-19 wards of hospitals like the Ibn Jazzar Hospital. Patients in such wards have ended up dying daily amidst the spike in coronavirus infections. Kairouan and three other districts particularly have ended up severely impacted by the surge. Tensions are rising at the regional hospital as staff members strive to make do with limited resources.

In the Kairouan region, many believe they are living through a real horror movie. In the region, a half-dozen rooms were devoted to COVID-19 patients, each packing in five or six beds. But most of these beds are already filled up, which has made things problematic. In one case, San Kraiem brought in her mother for treatment, but she couldn’t acquire a bed for her. Kraem describes that those at the hospital treated her mother like a dog as she was put in a wheelchair in a room full of COVID-19 patients.

Ibn Jazzar hospital efforts

To try to deal with the effects of the pandemic, the Tunisian government has set up a makeshift hospital on the outskirts of Kairouan. The army has strengthened this with a military treatment center housed in a green tent. The treatment center has numerous rows of beds, monitoring equipment, and respirators. Despite the terrible situation, COVID-19 testing is not widely used in poor, rural areas.

At the Ibn Jazzar Hospital in Kairouan supervisor Zohra Hedwej explains that officials’ goodwill efforts wind up being irritating half-measures, such as the establishment of an area for coronavirus patients without making provisions for medical personnel.

To escape the situation the hospital’s administration has to recruit people from different parts of the hospital. According to Hedwej it really gets difficult to locate volunteers since some people are unaware of their degree of physical immunity, while others are concerned about relatives with low immunity. A dependable team that can get the job done is needed.

The Ibn Jazzar Hospital now has such an alarming scarcity of trained workers that sophisticated equipment cannot always be used at times. It has become clear that the hospital needs labor more than new equipment. Most of the equipment comes from donors but there is a bigger need for qualified personnel who can operate and care for them.

Government efforts

Following the alarming increase in infections, Tunisia’s government has prolonged an overnight curfew. Moreover, the government has ordered increased immunization efforts in rural areas. However, it resisted proposals for a nationwide curfew due to public outrage over the economic impact. Tunisia’s population is already beset by unemployment and economic collapse.

Since the epidemic began, Tunisia has documented more than 14,000 virus-related fatalities among its 12 million people. Additionally, there have been more than 400 illnesses per 100,000 people in four locations. Notably, the Kairouan region, where hospitals remain overburdened is the most affected.

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