At least two hospitals in Russia’s Novosibirsk region have been keeping coronavirus patients in the hallways after reaching capacity, local media reported this week.
Footage shared by medics and residents showed gurneys in hallways at the state hospitals refitted to treat Covid-19 patients. The Novosibirsk-based Ngs.ru news website said Wednesday that it had been receiving photographs of the hallways from the two hospitals’ patients since Sunday.
“When they placed the extra beds, the doctors cursed and told us: film this and send it to the Health Ministry,” one of the patients, Alexander Selivanov, was quoted as saying.
Other patients told Ngs.ru that they or their relatives were ordered to wait in the hallways, in some cases never to be attended to.
After the report’s publication, regional health officials wrote to the outlet saying that one of the hospitals had reached its capacity of 250 beds.
“This situation is caused by the epidemiological situation in the Novosibirsk region,” the health department was quoted as saying.
Authorities previously said that there was no shortage of hospital beds, noting that 38% had been filled as of May 11.
The coronavirus crisis center of Novosibirsk region, with a population of 2.8 million, has confirmed 1,881 cases and 25 total deaths from Covid-19 as of Thursday.
That places it outside Russia’s top 20 most-affected regions. The nationwide total stands at 308,705 coronavirus cases and 2,972 deaths as of Wednesday.
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