Playa del Carmen, Q.R. — Medical personnel of the General Hospital no. 18 of the IMSS in Playa del Carmen protested Wednesday afternoon due to the lack of supplies, training and infrastructure to attend to patients during the coronavirus contingency.
Medical and nursing staff were protesting, demanding they be outfitted with the appropriate supplies to be able to deal with the coronavirus without risk of contagion. A group of medical staff protested outside the hospital, directing their messages to the federal government, clarifying that they are not stopping work or refusing to attend to patients, but without the appropriate medical supplies, they run the risk of becoming infected and also infecting patients.
According to protesters, there are more than 600 doctors, nurses, administrative and cleaning personnel who have not been provided with gloves, N95 face masks, goggles, protection kits or isolation equipment to provide proper attention to possible coronavirus patients.
“We are asking. We are not refusing to attend to the patient. What we want is that they give us supplies because we do not have necessary supplies. It is what we are demanding (…) we want the mouthguard that protects you, the N95. We want them to give us gowns, masks, glasses, special gloves and alcohol gel,” said hospital staff.
They also said that despite the fact that in government facilities such as the State Congress, city hall and municipal offices investments have been made to carry out sanitation efforts, no such effort has been made in the General Hospital no. 18, saying there is no team assigned to carry out disinfecting despite the fact there are people from outside accompanying patients.
