'Six People Were Taken To Intensive Care, Three Of Them Never Returned'

Belarusian woman with COVID-19 has told what is happening in the hospitals of Baranavichy.

A resident of Baranavichy with confirmed coronavirus told Intex-press how she got sick and got to the hospital, how she witnessed them willing to send her, the carrier of the virus, back to work, and how she sought a second test, which turned out to be positive.

''I read your article about the girl who became a first-level contact in a hospital. And I want to say that I understand her mother very well, because I was in approximately the same situation,'' said Mrs. Lidziya, a resident of Baranavichy, who called the Intex-press editorial office to share her story and warn the townspeople of danger, which, in her opinion, many underestimate.

Medical chart

Mrs. Lidziya is 56 years old. She works in one of the city’s post offices, where, according to her, a real epidemic began in late April.

- First, on April 25, one employee fell ill. Then on the 29 another two operators got sick, the following day one more employee worked till lunch break, and went home with fever. And on May 1, I noticed my temperature rising. I called the management, because only one operator and I remained in the office, and said that I could not work. But they asked me to come to work in the morning to at least pass my piece of work to someone else,'' says Mrs. Lidziya.

Despite the high temperature, she went to work for a short while, and from there she went by taxi to the clinic. She was prescribed antibiotics and sent home. But the woman was getting worse, the temperature did not go down, so a few days later she called an ambulance, which took her to the hospital.

- I did a blood test, and an X-ray, that showed unilateral pneumonia on the left side. But the doctor prescribed me another antibiotic and sent me to the local therapist," recalls Mrs. Lidziya.

"The ward was like a transshipment base"

Home treatment did not help, on May 8, the woman began to suffocate and in the evening called 103 again. This time she was hospitalized. They put her in a ward with oxygen, immediately launched the dropper and gave an injection, because the temperature was high. And the next morning they took a smear for the coronavirus.

"There were five people in my ward. And the beds were never empty, in fact, even for a day. Our Ward was like a transshipment base. They put everyone there. Four days before my discharge, a woman was placed with us, whose coronavirus was confirmed," says Mrs. Lidziya. "In two weeks, only six people from my ward "left" for the intensive care, three, unfortunately, never returned. Who knows what they had? In the hospital I had to see so much that these memories are enough for the rest of my life. Reality cannot be compared with what we are told on television.

The woman stayed in the hospital until May 22. On the eve of her discharge, she found out that the result of her test was negative. But since it took a lot of time since the moment Mrs. Lidziya underwent this test, and many different people were in her ward, she asked to do a second test to make sure that she does not have the coronavirus, and that she can return home, and to the working collective. But, unexpectedly, the woman was refused.

- At first, one doctor attended to our ward, a very good and caring woman, and then for some reason she was replaced with someone else. And this new doctor came to me on May 22 and said that they would discharge me and close the sick-list. I asked to do a second test, explained that I had five sick people at work, three of them have a confirmed coronavirus, and I want to protect myself. But he said that he sees no reason for this," says Mrs. Lidziya.

According to the woman, no matter how she tried to prove that her request was not a whim, that she was really afraid, that she could be sick and could infect other people, everything was in vain.

- Most doctors now, of course, commit heroic actions. Regardless of their own time, they treat people, raise them to their feet. But this was the first time I have come across such,excuse me for the expression, dumb doctor, - says Mrs. Lidziya.

Fighting for the test

After the woman realized that all her persuasions and arguments were useless, she decided to seek help outside. First, she called the "hot line" of the City Executive Committee.

- After that, the doctor came to me again, "for conversation", but insisted he was right Therefore, I told him: I will not leave the hospital until you do a second test. I want to protect myself and my family, - the woman says.

Only after Mrs. Lidziya called the coronavirus-related "hot line" in Minsk three times, they did an express test. And it turned out to be positive.

- That's when everyone started running around. They even wanted to transfer me to another hospital, to be treated. I say, you already closed the sick-list for me, you sent me to work, what are you going to treat now? - Mrs. Lidziya does not hold back emotions. - And imagine if I went to work, to which I can get by two buses, I would drag this infection home, to my family, grandson?

Mrs. Lidziya was eventually discharged, but the sick leave was extended. Now she is on self-isolation (fortunately, her friends helped her with housing), and is waiting for the second test to finally recover and return home to her family. However, after what she had to see and experience, her worldview changed dramatically.

"I don’t like to complain at all, because I work with people myself and I know that anything can happen. But when it comes to health, there's no time for ceremonies. They did this test just because I was persistent. And where is the guarantee that they don't discharge untested people by groups?" she says. "By telling my story, I want to warn other people, to make them understand how dangerous this is. And so they know that if they do not take care about themselves and their health, they will be massively discharged without proper testing, or with no testing whatsoever. And this "covid" will never end.