Doctors at a hospital in Kharkov may have to decide whether to transfer coronary patients in the intensive care unit to the bomb shelter when the alarm comes. The hospital is also preparing for the use of chemical weapons.
Russia’s attack has been overshadowed by another rampage in Ukraine – the same that has plagued the world. The coronary pandemic may intensify under the conditions of war, although the disease was already fading in Ukraine as well.
At the Kharkiv Infectious Diseases Hospital, some covid patients rely on respiratory equipment for intensive care. They could not be transferred to the bomb shelter even in the event of an alarm. So far, the hospital has avoided bombing, but doctors and other staff could face this extremely difficult situation.
Kharkov, the second largest city in Ukraine, near the Russian border, was attacked early in the war. According to the city’s rescue service, at least 500 people in Kharkov have been killed during the Russian invasion, and more than 600 buildings have been destroyed, including hospitals.
The hospital is even preparing for the possibility of a chemical attack. Gas masks for military use have been raised in the event that an attacker uses a prohibited weapon.
Fear of war took the place of corona worries
In the war-torn Ukraine, the corona barely receives much attention.
Yet it is the conditions of war that are conducive to the spread of the disease. Cannon fire and missile strikes destroy cities, and Korona grabs the cramped bomb shelters and congested transports.
At least half of Kiev’s nearly three million inhabitants have already fled.
Crown stats dropped to zero when the attack began
The resistance of Ukrainians to the corona is not high, as hardly a third of the population has been vaccinated. President Volodymyr Zelensky the wish list for foreign aid also includes coronary vaccines.
The effect of the omicron variant of the corona was diminishing even in Ukraine before the war