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The pediatrician Víctor de Jesús, who had been hospitalized for about three weeks in the Intensive Care Unit of the HIMA Hospital in Caguas, died this morning as a result of the coronavirus COVID-19, making him the first doctor in the country to die of this disease.
“He had been hospitalized for about three weeks and, from the beginning, he complicated himself and connected to a ventilator”, reported Dr. Víctor Ramos, president of the College of Surgeons of Puerto Rico.
The leader of the doctors could not specify the age of De Jesús, but established that He was over 50 years old and had been in medical practice for over 20 years.
On the other hand, he held the country’s hospitals responsible for this and other deaths that may arise among health professionals related to this virus.
“This is the fault of the hospitals, which do not give the protective material to their employees,” said Ramos, who directly blamed the administrators of the country’s hospitals.
According to Ramos, the pediatrician was infected while caring for patients in the hospital and did not have the appropriate personal protective equipment that serves as a barrier to minimize the risk of contagion.
This includes masks, gowns, gloves, “shoe covers” and “face shield”, among others.
As reported, this equipment is in short supply at the national level, but it is vital to protect the first line of defense of patient care, such as doctors and nurses, among others.
Yesterday the death of a Puerto Rican doctor who worked in the state of Florida also came to light. According to US media, this was identified as Dr. Luis Caldera Nieves, a gynecologist who had more than 25 years of medical practice in the University of Miami health system.
Caldera Nieves, a native of Bayamón, studied at the School of Medicine of the University of Puerto Rico and then did his residency at the San Juan Bautista Medical Center, in Caguas.
It was reported that the HIMA San Pablo Hospital will shortly send statements about the doctor’s death.
The doctor Carmen Suárez, president of the Puerto Rican Society of Pediatrics, also regretted the death of Dr. De Jesús.
“We deeply regret the loss of an excellent pediatrician due to this disease,” he said.
Suarez agreed that it is urgent that health personnel be protected with the necessary equipment to be able to attend to these cases.
“Definitely doctors and health workers have to protect themselves with the right equipment to avoid infections,” he said.
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