In the past month due to suspected coronavirus I was in a Moscow hospital. All, I was sick for a month, two weeks of which were spent in the hospital. The most painful symptom was a high fever. In the end I’m tired to measure it.
In this article, sharing your experience stay in a Russian hospital, I want to try to share my personal opinion on why in Russia, occupying third place in the world in the number of infected with the coronavirus, such a minor number of deaths from the pandemic.
After I was diagnosed with pleurisy, and two days I spent in the hospital, I was transferred to a hospital specializing in the treatment of patients with coronavirus.
Although I am 36 years old, I somehow was placed in the children’s Department. I saw only one girl of school age. All the rest were adults.
My doctor was the head of this Department. When I asked him why at his clinic are for adults only, he said, “Revealed coronavirus-infected children are generally very small. Although I do Pediatrics, but the specialty are the pulmonologist, so here we are in pulmonary patients”.
And I should thank fate for it.
I had a house of unusual design. The door from the corridor led directly into my single room, and then there was another fairly large room. The impression was that the corridor which led to it, and equipped my private room. This impression was strengthened because it the entrance was a garbage can, and all the time someone came and went from the room.
But overall it was just a single room. It should be noted that it was very clean, and the garbage was emptied several times a day. Once a day is required to fumigation of my hospital bed and door handles. And, Oh happiness — I had my own sink with wash basin. However, there was no electrical outlet. But I was quite pleased.
The strangeness of the pediatric Department
The entire medical staff in the Department were very good to me. But among the patients were a weirdo. During his stay at the hospital, I on my personal experience I have experienced the same advice that I gave people in the know. They said, “Remember, among the Russian are very different types”.
Indeed, immediately after admission to the hospital, I became the object of intense interest to women of 50 years that was located in the adjacent great room. Like me, she was waiting for the results of the test for the coronavirus. Even when I was dozing, and she came over and started asking us “Where do you work? Got a family? Where do you live? How much was the rent?” and so on. With this medical mask she wore. By the way, wearing masks in the hospital, necessarily, and they are distributed free of charge.
On the third day I took courage and said to her: “don’t torment me with unnecessary questions. In addition, because some of us may be infected”. Received the ironic answer: “Yes, now stay out too late!” And it’s true. There was no need to communicate closely with her from the beginning.
After some time, the woman was transferred to another ward, and her room put the Kirghiz of the couple. Her husband was somewhere in another room. He had strange mannerisms. It without knocking came into my house and passed to his wife. If she was sleeping, he loudly Wake her up.
In the end, I could not stand, and said to him: “incidentally, this is the ladies room. When you enter, then be sure to knock.” After that it was 2 a.m., knocked loudly at the door, and without waiting for my answer, proceeded to the house of his wife. Since the image of a Kyrgyz in my eyes fell.
As I said, in my room the electric socket was not. Therefore, your cell phone and laptop I was loading in the hallway. Once I asked for a charger woman of Asian appearance. In fact, in Russia accessories for Apple gadgets cost more than in Japan. So I asked where her own charge. “Yes, somewhere was lost,” she said. Then I asked: “And your Ah-background what model? Show!” She was embarrassed and said that he gave the gadget to the time friend. Weird.
In the end, I decided charging her not to give. And everytime then when I came out into the hallway and faced her, she continued to ask for the charger. In the end, I have even had to tell her, “leave me alone!”. After that, their requests she stopped. But enough about that.
Teapots to choose from and difficulty with transfers
In the previous hospital, I was worn out with drinking water. Since I was in the quarantine zone, then I move on it could not. Boiled water I poured into a mug a nurse. In this water there was some yellowish suspension.
The current hospital in this respect was much better. In the kitchenette there was a shared space, and always when I wanted to, I could get the boiling water and boiled water. Kettles in the kitchen were three. Opening the cover, I have carefully chosen the most pure of them.
But, as I noted, from the Russian one does not. They just touched the kettle and touch chose the hottest. For Russians the main thing — that the tea was as hot.
The food overall was like a diet. However, there were also tasty things, like fish soup.
Transfer from outside are permitted in principle, but the associated procedure is quite complicated. In the list of prohibited the transfer of the products include: mayonnaise, cream and dairy fats, pizza, chips, chocolate, smoked meat products, meat, fish, salads, canned food, various nuts, soups, grapes, watermelon, melon, berries etc are Pretty harsh list.
Although the temperature much appetite I had, I usually got a little hungry. So the email asked for worrying about me colleagues and friends to give me something tasty, not forgetting to accompany their messages with photos of a list of forbidden things.
In the infectious diseases hospital personal visits of the patients is prohibited. But transfer are accepted at the reception, and then on a special machine are delivered to the hospital building. Overall a reasonable system.
My hospital was very great. She took a birch forest. Buildings it was a lot. By the way, when confirming the diagnosis of “coronavirus” patients it is immediately transferred to specialized housing.
Particularly worthy of mention developed in the Moscow business of delivery of food orders. He helped the Muscovites during a pandemic. I myself use it and remember with gratitude.
In fact, the Moscow authorities have adopted a fairly rigid measures of isolation and quarantine of the population. To move around Moscow, in principle, possible only on foot, and then on the near distance. In all other cases you need special permission. Luckily for me, some of my friends even drove in the emergency Department of the hospital.
As for gear, I was deeply touched cooked one of my colleague white boiled rice with a side of steamed potatoes. They missed making the absence of meat. Then I felt like a Japanese woman.
The other day, a friend journalist came to the hospital, and the receptionist handed me a package that had cheese, sweets and pate from Turkey. When I asked him his email, as he was able to transfer the pate, he earnestly replied that convinced the Registrar that the pate is not from the meat, and venison. Under “meat” in Russia, you know beef, pork or lamb. Even chicken liver pate to give him banned, and here pate game missed. I guess I must have pretended that have not noticed. It’s a little Russian. And thanks for that.
The daily injections. Discharge from the hospital with the condition of the two-week isolation
Back to treatment issues. It consisted of a injections, oral medications, testing of blood and urine. Twice a day, morning and evening without a single pass me injections of antibiotics. In appearance it is much worse than hearing. In the end, all the soft spot was covered with wounds, as from BCG vaccination. The antibiotics have made me a strong action. I had dizziness and lethargy. However, 3 days later it all passed and my head cleared.
But on the stomach and lower body rash. Not that I was hurt, but itched these places are scary. In this regard, I was given Allergy medications. These symptoms remained even to the present day from the time of discharge it has been quite a lot of time.
The direct cause for my hospitalization was pleurisy (accumulation of fluid in the lungs). But I have noted the same, and fever, and lethargy, and cough, and congestion of the sinuses. So of course, I suspected a coronavirus.
Tests for coronavirus took me 4 times: 1 time at home, when I called the ambulance, 1 in the first hospital and twice in the second. All tests were negative. At discharge, the diagnosis was: “Acute viral respiratory infection. The state of moderate severity”. However, it remained unclear that it was my virus.
As a bit of a concern so me and leaves, I decided that next month I’ll take the test for antibodies.
When I asked the head of the Department about whether there is danger of catching the coronavirus, while in his clinic, he honestly replied: “Not to say that there is no such danger. After we transferred patients from other hospitals, there is a certain movement of people and staff at the entrance-exit”. And to me his words, on the contrary, acted soothingly.
I allowed the statement of the condition of a two-week stay on full quarantine. I was told that if I was in a student dormitory will be difficult to secure the withdrawal, then another 2 weeks I can see already in the third medical facility.
Because at work I provide accommodation, I refused. But such care was pleasantly surprised.
Why Russia has so few deaths from coronavirus
As of 24 may, when I’m writing this article in Russia only identified 354 481 persons infected with coronavirus. Dead from it, there are 3541 people. In the country to date was held on 8 600 000 tests for coronavirus.
Of all those infected in about half of the symptoms of the disease are absent.
If the number of identified cases of coronavirus Russia stands in the world on the 3rd place after US and Brazil, the number of deaths from it remains astonishingly low.
Based on what I saw in Russia, especially in Moscow, I can formulate the policy of the Russian authorities in relation to the coronavirus in the following way: “At the first suspicious signs of potential patient passes the test for the coronavirus, the same tests are those with whom he was in contact. Healthy people can pass the study on a paid basis. In case of positive test results, and asymptomatic disease, the person is in complete isolation at home, in cases of moderate severity to prevent the development of severe conditions as quickly as possible he will be hospitalized”.
I think the reason for the low mortality rate from coronavirus in Russia is that here is a rapid identification of patients, and a significant number are supplied to hospitals before the development of severe manifestations of the disease.
The policy of the Russian authorities against the pandemic, where despite the increase in the number of diagnosed patients, there is a further increase in the number of tests differs from the policy of the Japanese health authorities.
While it is impossible to draw a definitive conclusion as to measures of any country for combating coronavirus has proven to be more effective. But if judged on the basis of my acquired personal experience, that for people with any suspicious symptoms there is a natural desire to be tested for the coronavirus.
If you look at Japanese social network, in them you can find mountains of reviews of people who couldn’t get a screening for coronavirus even in high temperature. In need of the services of health insurance, many citizens of Japan to receive these services was not.
By contrast, in Russia, despite the fact that I am a stranger here, I was immediately admitted to the hospital with the first symptoms, without waiting for test results. And I was lucky that I immediately got the appropriate treatment.
Compared to the patient stay at home in the absence of professional medical care, its placement is much better, at least from a psychological point of view. May 24, the Russian government announced: “At this time, there were no patients with identified coronavirus, died at home.”
Of course, significantly increase the number of patients in hospitals — not an easy task. The construction of new hospitals and redesigning the old. It is difficult simultaneously to dramatically increase the number of doctors in medical institutions. Therefore, it is reasonable involvement in the fight against coronavirus medical students that, among other things, acquire real medical practice.
Currently, the widely spread rumors that “Russia is deceiving the world with the number of deaths in the country from the coronavirus”. If to speak about my personal point of view, I believe that Russia is absolutely not necessary, especially now when in many Western countries the number of deaths from the coronavirus is measured in tens of thousands.
Even if we assume that the number of deaths from the pandemic in Moscow will increase slightly, it is unlikely to undermine the rigid positions of power of the Moscow mayor.
In addition, one should note that in Russia, unlike China, YouTube and other social networks you can even watch the opposition and anti-government media channels, which are the doctors and other health care providers. Social network in Russia is available to all regular citizens. And if the statistics for the dead and surviving patients with coronavirus had manipulation, they instantly become public knowledge.
At the same time, now in Russia the question of deaths from coronavirus appears and the topic of victims of the pandemic among health care workers. In may frequent news of the death of doctors from the coronavirus. In a structured action teams “List memory” are already 277 health workers who died from this scourge.
It’s hard to judge how reliable this information is. But when I look at the pictures and names in the obituaries of these people, my heart swells, although none of them I when they had never met.
According to the results held in Moscow on may 23, the survey of 50 000 citizens, in 12.5% of them were detected with antibodies to the coronavirus. This is a higher figure than expected.
It is not excluded that taking into account these data, the policy mitigation measures of isolation in the capital will undergo some softening.
In Moscow in the last days the weather is getting better, and he goes out more and more people, tired of the isolation. Is coronavirus a pandemic in Russia is towards a decline, or is the possible arrival of his second wave? We will closely watch the course of events.
