A 73-year-old México state man was sent home from the same hospital twice this week despite being diagnosed with pneumonia and suffering serious coronavirus-like symptoms.
Anastasio, whose last name was not given, spent seven days in the Fernando Quiroz Gutiérrez General Hospital in Valle de Chalco, a México state municipality that borders Mexico City to the east.
Anastasio was reported in serious condition on Sunday but was nevertheless abruptly discharged on Tuesday at which time he was given a certificate that said that the results of his Covid-19 test were not yet known.
The poverty-stricken pensioner returned to his cramped one-room Valle de Chalco home but within 24 hours his condition deteriorated and he found himself once again with breathing difficulties, a fever, a dry cough and problems remaining steady on his feet.
A former neighbor took him to the Ignacio Zaragoza ISSSTE Regional Hospital in the Mexico City borough of Iztapalapa on Wednesday but he was turned away as the facility was already full with Covid-19 patients.
Anastasio told the newspaper Milenio that he then took a public bus to the Valle de Chalco hospital from which he was discharged the previous day.
He said that a doctor at the hospital told him that it was unfathomable that he had been allowed to go home the previous day considering that he had Covid-19 symptoms and is vulnerable to the disease due to his age.
Anastasio remained in emergency for five hours waiting to be admitted but was suddenly asked once again to return to his home. He was given another certificate saying that he had pneumonia probably caused by Covid-19.
“They told me that they were going to hospitalize me again but when they were just about to, they changed their mind,” Anastasio told Milenio in a raspy and weak voice.
“Maybe it was because they didn’t have space anymore, … everywhere is overwhelmed [with coronavirus patients],” he said.
Speaking at his small home, Anastasio said he was told that it was normal for him to feel so unwell considering his age. The pensioner and former Walmart grocery packer said that he was also told that he had heart and lung problems, including pneumonia, and that he was dehydrated.
His second hospital discharge certificate indicated that he must isolate himself for 14 days and said once again that the results of his Covid-19 test were unknown. Anastasio was given blood pressure medication and a prescription for other medicines that neither he nor his former neighbor and only friend can afford, Milenio said.
Yet the senior said that he has faith that he can get better despite his ongoing respiratory symptoms and not having a peso to his name.
“[I feel] very bad all over but here I am still alive,” he said.
Source: Milenio (sp)
