Italian doctors and their unions are alarming the Italian government of creating ‘biological bombs’ after the COVID-19 positive patients are being sent to care homes. This move comes despite the average age of people who have died of coronavirus in Italy is 82.
Across the country, Italy has over 28,000 hospital beds and only around 4,000 intensive care unit beds. There is a constant need to vacate the beds sooner in order to accommodate newer and more severe cases of the novel coronavirus. Because of this, the positive patients are being discharged and sent to care homes as a part of the quarantining process. Italian doctors seem to resent the decision.
Italy stands in the second position of having the oldest population in the world which might possibly explain the mortality rate in the country. The average age of patients who have died with coronavirus is 82. There were already reports of a war-like situation in the Italian hospitals where doctors are forced to choose who will get the medical facility in order to live and who will not. This move only worsens the situation, doctors feel.
A ‘Biological Bomb’ scare
The criticism also stems because most of the assisted facilities in the state have already been hit by the disease. There are reports of hundreds of them are being hit by the disease and are going untested for the virus. There are serious concerns about the safety of over 300,000 residents in Italy’s 7,000 care homes. Already 2,000 people have been shifted to care homes in Lombardy, the epicenter in Italy. Other cities are following the same steps.
According to a researcher at the Italian Institute for Political Studies, those who have been discharged from the hospitals still seems to have the virus inside them. However, the government is said to have imposed strict measures of physical distancing and have been provided with protective gear. Italy’s national health institute said 86 percent of care homes reported for lack of protective gear and over 36 percent said they are out of staff as most are falling sick.
The Pensioner unions are urging the government to make use of hotels, student housing facilities or military barracks for quarantining than the care homes. Italy is currently in its lockdown phase after being severely hit by the pandemic.
