With many nations–including India and some in Central and South America–seeing new peaks in the number of new cases and hospitalizations, national health systems are being stretched to the limit and patients’ lives are being put at risk.
In India, which has seen more than a quarter million new cases daily, hospitals are running out of hospital beds and oxygen, as well as sedatives for patients who are coming out of medically-induced comas when they are ventilated. The country has taken the drastic measure of banning people other than essential workers from even being outside their homes.
Ecuador is taking similar actions as hospital are on the verge of collapsing. Over weekends and on Monday through Thursday evenings, only essential workers are allowed to circulate on streets in 16 of the country’s 24 provinces. The government said the measures will stay in effect for 24 days.
While the peak in the US has subsided in recent weeks, the US is still typically in the top five in the number of new cases reported daily, as public health professionals express concern that certain parts of the nation have prematurely relaxed guidelines.