Covid-19: The Angolan Minister of Health denies lack of beds

The Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, denied last Sunday, in Luanda, the information about the lack of beds and other equipment at Covid-19 treatment centres.

In a press conference to update the epidemiological situation of covid-19 in the previous 24 hours, she said that only the Field Hospital, located in the Special Economic Zone (ZEE), inViana Municipality, has 500 beds and the country registers 353 infected, 226 are active cases.

In addition to this recently opened health unit, for the treatment and hospitalization of positive, mild and severe cases, the sector also has the Girassol, Sagrada Esperança (Endiama) clinics, the Barra do Kwanza and Calumbo inpatient centres, for asymptomatic patients.

"In other countries, such as the United States of America and European, they are adapting stadiums and car parks for campaign hospitals and no one complains about the conditions," she lamented.

Sílvia Lutucuta informed that unlike conventional health units, those who care for Covid-19 patients have their own specificities and are adapted to not receive visits, other activities or install other services.

Regarding deaths from the disease (19), she expressed concern, clarifying, however, that many of them occurred due to the fact that patients arrived at health facilities in critical condition, associated with serious diseases (hypertension, diabetes, cancer, poorly controlled HIV, tuberculosis… ), while others arrived already dead.

However, she stressed that hospitals were able to recover two seriously ill patients, assisted by ventilators, despite the fact that two people who were apparently healthy had died.

Regarding the acquisition of sanitary equipment to fight the disease, she reiterated that more than half of the 43 billion kwanzas made available by the government were used for “high purchases” of hospital and bio-safety material, in the order of 544 tonnes, in China.

“Value the work of the Executive. The donations we received do not reach 50 tonnes and are not counted in the acquisitions (544 tonnes) of the Government of Angola”, she concluded.

The country now has 353 infected cases, with 19 deaths, 108 recovered patients and 226 active.