Turkish Medical Association: Covid-19 services, intensive care units near capacity

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Covid-19 services and intensive care units (ICU) are near capacity in Turkey's larger cities, including İstanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Kocaeli, Bursa and Adana, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) said today (November 30).

According to the daily coronavirus table of the Ministry of Health, the bed occupancy rate in the hospitals throughout the country is 54.7 percent and the adult ICU occupancy rate is 71.3 percent.

However, the TTB said, the information it obtained from the field contradicted these figures not only in terms of Covid-19 but of all patients.

The official Covid-19 figures have been disputed by medical organizations and local administrations since the start of the outbreak.

In July, the Ministry of Health stopped disclosing the number of patients in intensive care and on ventilators after a sharp increase.

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"The information reaching us from the provinces shows that 100 percent or nearly 100 percent of Covid-19 services and intensive care units are occupied," it said.

"In many public hospitals, intensive care beds are completely occupied. Patients sometimes wait for an intensive care bed for days in emergency services," it noted.

In some provinces, hospitals set up makeshift intensive care units in corridors, shelters and dining halls, the association further said.

The death of a one-and-a-half-year-old toddler in the eastern Batman province due to the lack of empty intensive care beds was "the most painful example" showing the situation, said the TTB, calling on the ministry to share ICU data transparently.

It also noted that private and foundation hospitals don't accept Covid-19 patients despite a Ministry of Health circular issued in March and is still in effect.

Private hospitals take advantage of this situation and advertise themselves as "clean hospitals" while increasing fees, the TTB said, calling on the ministry to force these to serve as "pandemic hospitals" in line with the circular. (RT/VK)