Honduras president hospitalized with pneumonia, Covid-19

tEGUCIGALPA, Honduras—the hospitalization of Honduras’ president with Covid-19 and pneumonia on Wednesday has drawn attention to another country struggling under the pandemic’s strain as cases rise sharply in the capital.

President Juan Orlando Hernández announced late tuesday that he and his wife had tested positive for the virus. Just hours later he was hospitalized after doctors determined he had pneumonia.

From March to June 7, Honduras confirmed 6,327 coronavirus infections. in the 10 days since, it added 3,329 more, a surge that has come after the government began a gradual reactivation of the economy.

the northern business hub of san Pedro sula still accounts for the majority of the cases, but the capital, tegucigalpa, is the focus of new infections.

Health Minister Alba Consuelo Flores confirmed that hospitals in those cities are nearly full, but said the government had to begin loosening restrictions. Many businesses closed since March have been allowed to reopen, though with reduced capacity. those companies provide passes to their workers allowing them to avoid a national curfew that has been extended to June 28 and only allows people to leave home for essentials on certain days based on their national id number.

“if we don’t activate the economy we’re going to have another kind of pandemic that is hunger, malnutrition and probably social crises,” flores said.

she said if the people continue to be disciplined they will be able to manage the epidemic. the country made wearing masks obligatory and businesses are reopening with just 20 percent of their personnel.

But suyapa Figueroa, president the Honduras Medical College, said hospitals are already being overwhelmed. the school Hospital, the capital’s largest public hospital, has already outfitted additional rooms for Covid-19 patients, but they haven’t kept up with the demand, she said. several dozen people were awaiting space to be hospitalized, she said.

the hospital did not respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

A local news station circulated video on tuesday of more than a dozen bodies wrapped in black bags scattered through hallways and rooms in the hospital’s overwhelmed morgue.

Figueroa said that due to a shortage of pressure gauges, oxygen is shifted from patient to patient in turns.

the school Hospital is one health center where the international Committee of the red Cross is supporting the country’s health system.

the organization has established a dual triage system that allows it to isolate those arriving with Covid-19 symptoms and try to refer them to other hospitals where there is bed space, said Karim Khallaayoun, mission chief for the red Cross in Honduras. the group has also supplied personal protective equipment for hospital staff, training on how to use it and counseling as the physical and psychological strain of the work takes its toll. AP