May 1, 2020

The province of Luanda, the only one so far with positive cases from Covid-19, will have, within 15 days, a field hospital to assist a possible increase of patients in the country. Adapted in two unoccupied ships in the Special Economic Zone (ZEE), in Viana, the unit will have a capacity of more than a thousand beds.

Within 15 days, a field hospital for the treatment of Covid-19 begins to operate in the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone.
Photography: Contreiras Pipa | November Editions
Speaking to the press, at the end of a visit to the site yesterday, the coordinator of the Multisectoral Commission for Response to Covid-19, General Pedro Sebastião, clarified that one of the ships will serve the Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and the other , civilians. The also Minister of State and head of the Security House of the President of the Republic said that the work is being done "at a recommended speed", to prevent the province from being caught off guard, in the event that the Covid-19 patient cases increase.

The work on the ship destined for the FAA is already advanced by about 70 percent. This part of the campaign hospital, according to Pedro Sebastião, will have a maximum capacity of up to 600 beds and will have a set of recommended valences for Covid-19. "It is evident that it will not be a luxury hospital, but it will have acceptable finishes", he guaranteed.

Pedro Sebastião said that the hospital will have three fundamental areas: one for light, medium and ICU patients (Intensive Care Unit). Each of these areas, he continued, will be equipped with advisable equipment for this type of intervention.
According to the head of the Security House, in the nave reserved for the military, the existing classes in the FAA will be privileged, such as squares, sergeants and officers. The civil works on the ship are due to start tomorrow.

The Minister of State clarified that he chose the ships of the EEZ because they are in a state of forgetfulness. “As you know, here in the Special Economic Zone there are a number of ships that were half forgotten. As a result, we intend to take advantage of them as much as possible, to create here another pole for medical assistance ”, stressed Pedro Sebastião, for whom the unit will serve to prevent the increase in cases of Covid-19 in Luanda.

A big gain

For the Minister of Health, Sílvia Lutucuta, the emergence of the hospital unit represents a great gain for the care of patients infected by the pandemic, which has already caused, until Thursday, in the country, two deaths. “We have a vast and well-ventilated space here”, he stressed. Sílvia Lutucuta made it known that the hospital will have a capacity for up to 140 beds in intensive care. The holder of the Health portfolio said that this capacity can be added, as there is an intermediate care area with 35 beds, both for the first ship and for the second, with gas networks.
Sílvia Lutucuta referred that the number of beds available in the field hospital joins those already existing in other care units for patients with the new coronavirus, as is the case of Barra do Kwanza, which has 70 beds.
In addition to the ZEE field hospital, the Minister of Health announced, also for the next few days, the emergence of yet another disease treatment center. "This is a new building, located behind the Psychiatric Hospital, with a capacity of up to 100 beds," he said.

Community contamination

Sílvia Lutucuta warned that the country could reach the stage of community contamination, if citizens insist on violating the Covid-19 pandemic prevention rules, implemented by health authorities. "We are one step away from community contamination," he admitted.
The Minister of Health pointed out that despite all the measures implemented by the Multisectoral Commission for Monitoring Covid-19, to avoid worse scenarios, there is still little collaboration from citizens.
The minister maintained that if there is no cooperation from the population, it will be difficult to overcome the problem in the country. “It is important that people take into account that they can die. We do not want deaths within our families. We are dealing with an invisible enemy ”, advised the Commission spokesman.
Sílvia Lutucuta urged society to learn from the bad and good experiences of countries strongly affected by the disease. The Health Minister said that, at the time of speaking, the country had only one case of local contamination (there were already four at night) and not six, as some doctors argue. Sílvia Lutucuta asks these doctors to take universal epidemiological concepts into account. “Science is science! And once science is done, we have to comply with the concepts that are very well defined ”, he defended.
Local contamination, he clarified, occurs when an individual who comes from abroad (imported case) contaminates someone locally. In the case of the five infected young people, he said, they all came from outside and were together in confinement. “They have not even left confinement to live with the population. We would only be in the presence of local contamination if they had, for example, contaminated the hotel maid ”, he clarified.

ISTM is an example in hand washing

The visit of the members of the Multisectoral Commission for the Response to Covid-19 began at the Instituto Superior Técnico Militar (ISTM), in Grafanil, in Viana.
The delegation assessed the degree of implementation by the troops of the Covid-19 preventive measures. When leaving this place, the Commission coordinator, General Pedro Sebastião, did not speak to the press, but the Jornal de Angola reporting team noted the rigorous implementation of security measures in that military education establishment. For example, no one accesses the institute without first washing their hands with soap and water or putting alcohol in gel.
As we leave for the Special Economic Zone, a scenario calls attention. Many people on the street, as if we were not in a State of Emergency. In order to circulate, many citizens adopted the strategy of walking, since inspection, especially during the day, has been more noticeable in vehicles. Walking, these citizens try to circumvent the various controls placed along the road.
They are aware that circulating in a taxi are more easily detected, as they have to display a document that enables them to do so. Jornal de Angola also found that clusters are registered, above all, in areas where there are informal markets or automatic payment terminals, common multi-lane.