Thousands of pharmacists and nurses continue to carry out their jobs even while experiencing severe shortages of items to protect them against the new coronavirus, Slovak Nurses and Mid-wives Chamber (SKSaPA) president Iveta Lazorová said on Monday. Lazorova has called upon Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD) to make sure that medical personnel who stand on the front lines in the fight against the outbreak are adequately equipped with protective items without delay, such as face masks, FFP3 respirators, goggles, waterproof overalls and protective gloves.
The Medical Professionals Initiative pointed out that many doctors and dozens of paramedics have ended up in quarantine already in the early days of the coronavirus outbreak. They explain: "The fundamental problem with the inadequate protection of medical personnel stems from the fact that if every medical professional who comes into contact with a patient either suspected or confirmed as being infected with the coronavirus, needs to undergo mandatory quarantine, the health system is bound to collapse within a week or two and there won't be anyone left to treat patients." In the past few days the University Hospital in Bratislava, the FD Roosevelt Hospital in Banská Bystrica, the Hospital in Bojnice and the Faculty Hospital in Trenčin have had to place part of their staff in quarantine after coming in contact with infected patients or colleagues.
A spokesman for the association of Networked Pharmacies (APSL), Peter Sedlaček, pointed out that the organisation - boasting more than 400 public pharmacies with over 2,200 medical personnel on its member list - won't be able to keep all the pharmacies open if the situation with the lack of protective gear continues to worsen.
Outgoing Premier and Health Minister Peter Pellegrini (Smer-SD), however, thinks that the Slovak health-care system is managing the crisis well so far, with most infected patients being treated at home and no case requiring lung ventilation. According to the State Reserve Agency, Slovakia is expected to have protective devices worth €50 million in its emergency stockpile in the coming weeks. The government is to decide on how the protective equipment will be distributed. As of Tuesday at noon, there were 84 confirmed cases of coronavirus infection in Slovakia.
