Dozens of people are heading to health centers in Guayaquil for COVID-19 checks, but not all are available | Society | Guayaquil

An increase in the number of people with symptoms related to COVID-19 has also been observed in the facilities of the Ministry of Health units. At 1:00 p.m. last Wednesday, a queue of ten users with sore throats, coughs, colds and general malaise waited in line for treatment at a designated care setting. There, a specialist collected his data.

In line, they passed the information one by one to the MSP administrator, while some chose to opt out when they knew the test would be the next day. More users registered last Thursday morning on the same site.

As in many municipal points and private laboratories, in type A, B and C health centers and in the eight hospitals of the Ministry of Public Health (MSP), where free antigen tests are also performed, the condition for access to the test is that the user has Respiratory symptoms related to COVID-19.

This was pointed out by Catherine Olaya, who is responsible for the epidemiological surveillance of the 8-Zone Health Coordination (Guayaquil, Duran and Samborondon).

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“We need to strengthen the issue of diagnosis in the population, so we are working jointly with the municipality of Guayaquil,” the official added.

He noted that District 8 received 18,000 antigen tests from the health portfolio, distributed in the three jurisdiction cantons.

“All health centers have tests to be able to conduct people who meet the criteria for a suspected case of COVID. We received them just before the start of the Christmas holidays,” Al Olaya said. Inventory On the verge of running out, they will demand more from the Ministry.

Alexa Zambrano, District 8 coordinator at the Ministry of Public Health, noted that there are more than 1,300 screening test points nationwide. These units vary between ministerial units and other institutions. “At all zone 8 health centers they have tests to be able to do for patients with symptoms that indicate cough, sore throat, headache and fever, and they can do an antigen test,” he said.

Despite this, at several health centers last Wednesday, individuals from those places indicated they had no supplies for COVID-19 tests. This was manifested, for example, in health centers No. 9 and 12. This situation was repeated in other cities such as Quito.

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“There is no one here, they have not sent any materials or people doing the tests,” said a doctor from Health Center No. 9 on Sucre and Victor Hugo Briones Streets, and suggested going to Type C health centers.

A doctor from Health Center No. 9 indicated that they did not conduct tests there and suggested that he go to a Type C health center.

Another official answered on the same day when asked by a user at Health Center No. 12, located in Cuenca and La Decima, in the southwest.

On the other hand, users at Sauces 9 Health Center provided details of their symptoms prior to the tests. Priscilla Rivas had hoped to get tested as soon as possible, as two people in her environment had tested positive and she was living with various symptoms such as coughing, itchy throat and fever.

At the same place, Paulette Lambert came back with a positive result for the antigen test that the municipal brigade conducted in sauces 5 minutes ago. She was seeking certification to advance her work in her own state of isolation, as she continued to suffer from illnesses such as headaches and joint pain.

In parallel, this week the municipality, in cooperation with the branch ministry, made available three points for the diagnosis of possible cases in Mapsingue, Martha de Roldós and Los Vergeles. “Depending on the behavior of the virus, we will move in these regional brigades,” Zambrano said on Wednesday.

Currently, the city of Guayaquil maintains a steady increase in infections, stable admissions of serious cases to hospitals, and a death rate of an average of three cases per day. (I)