Dr Cochrane prepares for Covid-19 at refuee camp
Dr Nicola Cochrane of Carrig Clinic in Greystones has moved on from an attack on her vehicle as she volunteered at a Greek refugee camp, and has turned her attention to preparing for Covid-19 in ‘shanty town’ conditions.
Dr Cochrane was travelling with other medical professionals in a convoy of car outside the Moria refugee camp on Lesbos island when men on motorbikes used baseball bats to smash the windows.
The incident occurred on Sunday, March 1, as violent clashes escalated between local men and young men from the refugee camp.
‘I’m still here,’ said Dr Cochrane yesterday by phone from Le. She said that they are running the clinic and things are reasonably stable at the moment, and that tensions could be quieting. ‘I’m hoping that’s the shape of things to come,’ she said.
One case of coronavirus had been confirmed on Lesbos by yesterday, a Greek woman who had travelled from elsewhere. Now Dr Cochrane and the other doctors are making what preparations they can for the onslaught of the virus at the camp.
‘It’s unthinkable really,’ she said, regarding the conditions in which people are living and may face the spread of the virus there.
Constructed for around 3,000 people, there is now a population of more than 20,000 at the camp.
Dr Cochrane said that she has been reading about other areas such as Italy, Ireland the UK and the US and has observed a coherent action plan. ‘It seems like appropriate and reasonable action is being taken,’ she said. ‘Th refugee camp is a sprawling shanty town with overcrowding. When it [coronavirus] hits the camp, adopting isolation practices seems like it could be almost futile.’
While there is a lower than usual population of people aged over 60, the group most vulnerable, some of the residents of the camp have travelled a very long way. They may have suffered malnutrition and for various reasons have a less resilient immune system to fight the illness.
She said that heart disease is common even among younger people who are otherwise health, particularly from sub Saharan African, and smoking is common among men, but not among women.
While so far the clinic has been able to send anyone to the local hospital in an emergency situation, Dr Cochrane isn’t sure if they are equipped for the numbers in the event of an outbreak. She doesn’t know either if they will even continue to accept refugees.
‘Poor people are the most vulnerable to a virus like this,’ said Dr Cochrane. She said that the clinic will do everything it can to try to contain, and treat patients who contract Covid-19.
‘I take the view that everyone on the planet has equal rights, including to aspirations regarding health and freedom,’ said Dr Cochrane. ‘It seems that there may be lip service to that in developed countries, who tend to turn a blind eye.’
As for the incident in which her car was attacked, Dr Cochrane said she is glad she stayed. ‘I got to know many of my neighbours, the Greek people, who have shown such warmth and support.’
She said that there have been anti-fascist demonstrations rejecting the attitudes behind the incident in which she and other medics were targeted.
‘If I left I would have remembered only the negative and not the phenomenal qualities of the Greek people here,’ she said. She said that they have been hugely resilient under very difficult circumstances.
She is due to return home towards the end of the month, as long as travel restrictions don’t get in her way.
Dr Cochrane lived in Bray for 20 years until she moved to Dublin with her husband and their children.
The organisation under which she travelled is London-based Kitrinos healthcare. ‘All the volunteers travel and work under their own steam, so any funds raised go to the refugees and their needs,’ said Dr. Cochrane.
To support the organisation, go to kitrinoshealthcare.org.