05:42Italy: Our capacity may reach its limits - ER doctor warns against violating restrictions *EXCLUSIVE*
An ER doctor at the Gugliermo Da Saliceto Hospital in Piacenza gave Ruptly an exclusive insight into the daily struggles of healthcare workers battling against the coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday.
"The night was very exhausting, just like all the nights over the past two weeks around here. We saw dozens and dozens of people of varying ages that arrive at our emergency room manifesting coronavirus-like pneumonia," said Dr. Davide Bastoni.
"At the moment there are approximately 40 patients that are waiting to be admitted, all with the same problem, which is coronavirus-like pneumonia," added the doctor.
Piacenza, a city of 102,000 inhabitants in the Emilia Romagna region has found itself in the middle of northern Italy's coronavirus outbreak and has been on total lockdown since Sunday. The city has suffered 50 deaths since the outbreak began and has reached 633 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
"It's clear that if the community doesn't follow the restrictions and the numbers continue to rise, at a certain point, our ability to help people will reach its limit," said doctor Bastoni.
"If the situation gets worse, and there were to be even more patients, even more than the current trend, clearly we would need to try and understand how to classify patients based on those that have more chances of surviving and those that have less, but I really hope this doesn't happen," he added.
Although Dr. Bastoni recognised that "we are becoming experts on the treatment of patients with coronavirus on a global level," he confessed that "we still haven't reached the peak, thus we are still in the midst of the emergency."
Italy remains Europe's worst hit country by the coronavirus which has killed 631 people.
05:42An ER doctor at the Gugliermo Da Saliceto Hospital in Piacenza gave Ruptly an exclusive insight into the daily struggles of healthcare workers battling against the coronavirus outbreak on Wednesday.
"The night was very exhausting, just like all the nights over the past two weeks around here. We saw dozens and dozens of people of varying ages that arrive at our emergency room manifesting coronavirus-like pneumonia," said Dr. Davide Bastoni.
"At the moment there are approximately 40 patients that are waiting to be admitted, all with the same problem, which is coronavirus-like pneumonia," added the doctor.
Piacenza, a city of 102,000 inhabitants in the Emilia Romagna region has found itself in the middle of northern Italy's coronavirus outbreak and has been on total lockdown since Sunday. The city has suffered 50 deaths since the outbreak began and has reached 633 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
"It's clear that if the community doesn't follow the restrictions and the numbers continue to rise, at a certain point, our ability to help people will reach its limit," said doctor Bastoni.
"If the situation gets worse, and there were to be even more patients, even more than the current trend, clearly we would need to try and understand how to classify patients based on those that have more chances of surviving and those that have less, but I really hope this doesn't happen," he added.
Although Dr. Bastoni recognised that "we are becoming experts on the treatment of patients with coronavirus on a global level," he confessed that "we still haven't reached the peak, thus we are still in the midst of the emergency."
Italy remains Europe's worst hit country by the coronavirus which has killed 631 people.