I took a friend to the biggest clinic close to our town today, and took some pictures. Sorry, they aren't great, but I was trying not to get caught!
This is a clinic with more than 300 beds, and approx. 77,000 patients per year. Usually they cannot give individual rooms even when requested, and they take people out of the ICU asap, because they don't have enough beds. They SHOULD be saturated now, yes?
The parking lot is usually packed, no room to park before driving around for 10 minutes. See the back today:
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Usually you either don't see nurses, or they are running around super busy. Today:
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The male nurse was smoking, what a horror!
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The welcoming tent, outside. An incompetent woman was asking people who they had an appointment with, and after 10 minutes, she managed to contact the right service to announce that my friend was there for his appointment. She told me I couldn't accompany my friend even though he needed help, and had to stay outside. She handed him a small yellow piece of paper with nothing written on it:
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With that precious paper, we then went to the guard, who kindly took it (we had seen the entrance lady and were approve, bravo!), and he let me in, no problem, no questions asked. It seems that they aren't all on board with the rules...
We are only allowed to enter the clinic through the emergency room, all other entrances are closed. And this is what it looked like. Usually it's full, with people standing outside.
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We finally made it to the radiotherapy waiting room, which is nicely decorated with medical tape, so that people sit far away from each other. Social distancing. Notice too the busy nurses at the back, getting coffee and playing with their phones.
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Visitors strictly forbidden on every floor.
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And THEN, on the pneumology floor, several rooms were empty or with a patient and the door open. BUT CAREFUL, this is terrible, ONE door in the entire floor had what (I assume) was a Corona sign: "Before entering please go to the nurse's office". I guess that's for the cleaners and the people who distribute lunch, since nobody is allowed to visit. I could have opened the door had I wanted to. Zero risk, probably.
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And the signs in the waiting room: only one ambulance driver can accompany the patient, and they must not stay in the waiting room unless the patient is on a bed. No relatives/friends allowed (but they let me in without checking), one person can sit every two seats.
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The main hall, usually packed as well.
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Now I believe it, it's a real epidemic, OMG!!!
I have to stay, all the staff seemed really nice today. They are on paid holidays! But in the meantime, like Gaby explained, people who SHOULD be there getting their treatments are refused, their appointments cancelled in order to avoid contagion. It seems that only patients receiving treatments for cancer are allowed, and a few rare others. Granted, we didn't go to the ICU, but I don't believe for a minute that it was full, or else, they'd be asking all the staff for help, there would have been more activity, and beds taken on other floors. What a farse this is...