As the world suffers ventilator shortages in intensive care units burdened by the coronavirus pandemic, an angry family in Egypt broke one ventilator at Shubra General Hospital on Thursday after a 64-year-old woman died of pneumonia complications.
The family had reportedly assaulted the medical team as well.
The Shubra General Hospital’s manager Wael al-Gaar on Saturday explained that the patient was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and passed away after entering intensive care.
During a phone-in with TV host Amr Adib on his show al-Hekaya (The Story) on the MBC Misr Channel, Gaar said that the woman was a frequent patient and had been there several times before, always recovering and being discharged – unfortunately, she didn’t make it this time.
After her death Gaar detailed how her family stormed the intensive-care unit, during which the ventilator fell and its screen broke.
The device is worth LE350,000, he said, with the cost of repair currently being determined.
He assured that the hospital contains 25 ventilators.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a significant increase in the number of pneumonia and fatal respiratory disease cases. The total number of ventilation devices available in the Egyptian market is very limited, and no ventilation devices are currently being imported.
Egypt on Saturday confirmed 11 additional deaths and 145 new coronavirus cases, bringing the country’s number of confirmed total cases so far to 1,939. Hundred and forty-six people have died from the virus in Egypt.
There have been over 1.7 million confirmed cases of coronavirus worldwide and upwards of 109,600 deaths.
