On Friday Nicaragua reported its second confirmed case of COVID-19 coronavirus. Both patients are hospitalized, the Ministry of Health has tracked down all the contacts for the first patient and is working on it for the second patient who is at high risk, being diabetic, hypertensive, and HIV positive.
We are just beginning to see the pandemic in our small country. People are scared - they've been watching other countries closely for weeks. Many are not well-informed - there is a lot of misinformation being passed around.
At the Nueva Vida Clinic we are clear that we are not set up to see patients with COVID-19; that is a job for the better-equipped Ministry of Health. Instead, we are working to continue serving our patients well, in order to help avoid overload at the public health clinics. We are also putting measures in place to ensure that our clinic doesn't become a point of contagion and to keep our staff safe:
- We're setting up hand-washing stations with bleach disinfectant at the gate and at all doors.
 |
| loading hand-washing buckets for the clinic entrances |
- We have spray bottles with Clorox and are cleaning door handles and surfaces constantly.
- Only patients are allowed in the gate - usually several healthy people come in accompanying the patient, but we are no longer allowing extra people.
- Anyone with fever and cough are sent directly to the MINSA clinic.
- We've put on pause all of our group health talks for pregnant women, new mothers, and chronic care patients. We have paused the Lobas and Leones teen programs.
- We have stopped all preventative dental care at the clinic for the time being; we are still seeing patients with dental emergencies.
- We have informed all 150 of our chronic care patients, many of whom are elderly, that starting this week they should send a younger family member to the clinic to pick up their medications in order to reduce their own exposure.
- We have stopped nebulization treatments both in homes through health promoters and at the Clinic, because we don't have enough nebulizer masks to change out between each patient.
- We have put more benches outside so that while patients are waiting to be seen by the doctor there is more distance between them.
- Josefa is giving a talk on how to prevent the spread of the virus to all patients in the morning and the afternoon.
How will the situation evolve in Nicaragua? It is going to look different from other countries. Although many private schools and universities are moving to online studies, the Ministry of Education is so far keeping public schools open. In Nicaragua, most parents have to go out to work - as street sellers, in the markets, etc - or the family doesn't eat that day. Primary school children are fed at school, teachers are having the kids wash their hands regularly, and they are cared for. If the government were to close primary schools, many children would be unsafe at home alone and would not get enough food to eat. Closing schools is a decision with very serious consequences and so as of today, schools are still open.
People live day-to-day here and live very close together. What would social distancing look like in Nueva Vida where people live 10 to 20 in a tiny house? And the houses are right next to each other? And everyone can afford to only buy enough food for the next meal?
The people of Nicaragua have been praying daily for those affected by Coronavirus around the world. Now they also need your prayers.
Thank you.
- Becca
NOTE: If you are reading this blog using the mobile version, click on "web version" to see the full blog with all the features including "subscribe to blog by email".
Please join us and also share on your social media.
Donate here to the ongoing work of the CDCA in Nicaragua:
