Patients being treated for coronavirus in an Egyptian ICU have all perished when the facility’s oxygen supply was cut off.
El Husseineya Central Hospital in Ash Sharqia province is the setting for a viral video shot by a patient’s family member.
Egypt: Entire Icu Ward Dies After Oxygen Supply Fails
Fatima Al-Sayed Mohamed Ibrahim, the cameraman’s aunt, was one of the patients being cared for in the quarantine facility.
The incident occurred when oxygen levels were already dangerously low, below 2%, and neither the air pressure nor the oxygen levels could have been increased in time to save the patients’ lives.
It’s the second time this has happened; the first time was with patients in the intensive care unit at Zefta General Hospital.
This Tragedy has Shed Light on the Underlying Corruption and Incompetence of Egypt’s Current Leadership.
Minister of Health for Egypt Hala Zayed said the Muslim Brotherhood was disseminating false information by saying that the patients didn’t die from lack of oxygen.
In a another video, hospital director Dr. Muhammad Sami Al-Najjar claimed everything was well. He flat-out rejected the idea that air was getting scarce. He explained that the deaths were the result of old age or other chronic conditions affecting the individuals.
According to Dr. Mamdouh Gorab, governor of Ash Sharqia, just four patients perished.
After Gorab demanded that the security forces apprehend the videotapers, unverified rumours on Facebook claimed that the individual who captured the incident on film had been taken into custody.
A picture of a shocked nurse sitting on the floor in full scrubs in the unit’s corner went viral as well. There were rumours that the nurse had been penalised for “not working during hard times.”
Last Words
As of November 2018, 290 medical professionals in Egypt were confirmed dead from Covid-19 by the Egyptian Medical Syndicate.
The Imbaba doctor confirmed that there was oxygen supply monitoring, but he was sceptical that the government’s new procedures would be successful as long as the number of cases remained high. Because of the lack of open communication and unwillingness to accept blame, many undesirable outcomes are possible.
Medical professionals have been used as scapegoats and punished in numerous situations where they have spoken out. They remarked things like, “The new measures will function perfectly when the minister or a prominent official is here, but when we are inundated by patients, they will not work.”
