Last Updated on April 18, 2020, 12:24 PM AST by Anthony Morris
The COVID-19 coronavirus has hit the world hard and has taken the form, of a pandemic. The number of confirmed and positive cases of the novel coronavirus globally have now topped 2.2 million.
Amidst the coronavirus pandemic outbreak, the countries around the world are now scrambling to buy life-saving equipment as the outbreak has caused an unprecedented demand for the life-saving equipment as well as the hospitals.
With healthcare systems around the world are constantly under the pressure of the virus, which has already claimed lives of more than 155,000 people globally, the experts have warned that the coronavirus could devastate the countries which lack healthcare infrastructure and equipment.
For instance, South Sudan has a total of only 24 ICU beds and four ventilators for a population of around 12 million people which makes just one ventilator per three million people.
Burkina Faso has only 11 ventilators, Sierra Leone has 13, and the Central African Republic has just 3 ventilators.
On the other hand, Venezuela has only 84 ICU beds for a total population of 32 million, and around 90% of the hospitals in the country, face shortages of medicine and necessary supplies.
The vice president and head of program delivery for IRC, Elinor Raikes said that the world has already seen how the pandemic has quickly overwhelmed health systems in countries with relatively advanced health systems.
He added that there is already an immediate cause for concern about how the virus would quickly overwhelm countries with weaker health systems.
According to the World Health Organization, around one in every five persons who catch the coronavirus need hospital care.
Countries worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic are trying to get lung ventilation equipment, which either assists or replaces breathing for the critically-ill patients and pump oxygen into the blood of the patient to keep the organs functioning.
The hospitals in the United States could need as many as half a million additional ventilators during the pandemic, and demand for them has soared in US intensive care units as coronavirus patients flood in.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
