New Covid strains present increased mortality risk

Santo Domingo, DR

Neurosurgeon José Joaquín Puello, director of the Ciudad Sanitaria Luis Eduardo Aybar, attributed yesterday the high mortality in recent weeks due to Covid-19 due to the presence of new variants.

“We also see now more young people who come to be hospitalized and get complicated quickly, in three days they are already complicated; it is thought (without having the test yet) that it is the variants we have here,” he said.

“This last month has been terrible and in January there was an important outbreak,” he expressed when questioned about the most crucial period of the pandemic.

He pointed out that as more variants circulate in the country, contagions increase, and the resistance to the vaccine against the virus could be another factor.

He said that complications occur in less time and are due to the new variants of the Gama and Alphavirus, which are more potent and spread faster.

“Out of every 10 patients who come to the coronavirus unit and are admitted, there are 7 or 8 who have not been vaccinated,” he said.

Capacity
As of noon yesterday, there were about 71 Covid patients admitted to Ciudad Sanitaria.

Despite the resurgence of the virus, the specialist said that the number of admitted patients has been decreasing, perhaps due to the restrictive measures and the implementation of the vaccine against the virus.

“We are noticing that it is balancing out, because at one point we had up to 90 patients, plus 36 at the Cardio-Neuro-Ophthalmologic and Transplant Center (Cecanot),” he said. Likewise, he confirmed that most of the patients are relatively young and that the possibilities of seriousness become more complicated in three days.

The specialist urged the citizens who have relatives admitted with coronavirus in the center to be cautious when attending for information and suggested that only one person should go on behalf of the patient.

CONTAGIOUS
Reflection.
“For example, if there are 80 inmates, an average of two people come for each family member, that is, at any given time there are 180 people crowded together,” he said, calling for reflection. “The more people are exposed, the more they will be infected.”