More than 70% of beds allocated for patients with COVID-19 are provided with oxygen today in Ukraine, Deputy Minister of Health, Chief Sanitary Doctor of Ukraine Viktor Liashko said.
“Today, more than 70% of all beds allocated for COVID-19 are provided with oxygen. Now 55-60% of those hospitalized need oxygen treatment,” Liashko wrote on his Facebook page.
He said that 64,349 beds have been redesigned in hospitals to provide medical care for people with COVID-19, of which 44,436 are oxygen beds, which is almost 70% of all allocated beds.
“Today in hospitals we have 29,487 free beds with oxygen. On average, 55-60% of those hospitalized with COVID-19 need oxygen support,” he said.
The occupancy of beds by patients with COVID-19 in Ukraine as of Monday morning is 52%, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said during a press briefing in Kyiv on Monday.
“Some 53,445 beds have already been introduced for the treatment of patients with COVID-19, of which 27,792 beds are occupied by patients. The occupancy of beds is 52%. We continue to introduce beds, we can increase the maximum to almost 90,000 (50% of all beds),” he said.
“Some 25.996 beds are provided with oxygen. In general, 12,168 beds are provided with oxygen throughout the country. But in some regions there is a tense situation – this is Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Kharkiv regions,” the minister added.
There is no shortage of ventilators for patients with COVID-19 in hospitals, new ventilators will be purchased for reference hospitals, Health Minister Maksym Stepanov said.
“To date, 372 ventilators out of almost 4,000 that are available are involved in the treatment of patients with COVID-19. The devices that we are purchasing today will go to reference hospitals, emergency rooms, children,” he said on air during the “Svoboda Slova” (Freedom of Speech) program on Monday night.
Stepanov said that the Ministry of Health “does not have the task to write off funds from the treasury account as soon as possible.”
“Funds for ventilators were indeed allocated in May, appropriate procedures were launched, contracts have already been signed, we are waiting for the delivery of ventilators,” he said.
Stepanov reported that the task is “to buy modern equipment for 210 reference hospitals”. Funds for these purchases were transferred in July.
“This will be modern equipment that will work effectively, we are talking about CT, angiographs, other equipment. Now the procurement procedure is underway, the proposals and corresponding delivery dates have already been disclosed. According to the terms of agreement, funds are debited [from the treasury account], including after delivery. Therefore, there is nothing to talk about,” he said.
PJSC Farmak pharmaceutical company (Kyiv) in April-July exported to the EU propofol, a medication that is used for artificial lung ventilation of patients with coronavirus (COVID-19), worth more than $635,000,
The company told Interfax-Ukraine that due to the shortage of this medication in the EU and its active use for treatment of COVID-19 patients the supplies of the medication were carried out without its registration at the EU’s profile agency, which is a mandatory condition for sale of drugs in Europe.
“Such an exclusion is connected with the crisis, and at the same time it shows the level of confidence in Ukrainian manufacturers and quality of their products,” the company said.
There is a decrease in the number of patients with pneumonia in Ukraine, Minister of Health Maksym Stepanov said during a press briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday morning.
“We have increased the number of PCR tests for coronavirus up to 8,000 per day, but the number of patients has not exceeded 600 for three weeks in a row. In addition, there is good statistics regarding patients with pneumonia. If earlier we tested about 800-900 people with pneumonia per day, today this number does not exceed 250-300 people, and we test absolutely everyone. That is, we see a decrease in patients with pneumonia. Still, quarantine measures produce their effect,” he said.
