Egyptian activists circulated on Facebook a photo of a female coronavirus patient lying on the ground next to an ambulance in the courtyard of Shebin al-Qanater Hospital, claiming negligence on the part of healthcare workers.
Director of Shebin al-Qanater Hospital Dr. Hassan Mansour said that the woman arrived at the hospital three days ago suffering from a hepatic coma with a high fever and cough.
She underwent necessary tests, including a coronavirus test, for which she tested positive.
She was then handed over to ambulance workers to transfer her to quarantine, thus ending the hospital’s responsibility for her, Mansour said.
He continued: “A patient in a precoma stage is in a state of confusion and agitation.”
“I have been informed that she was agitated and threw herself down next to the ambulance,” Mansour said.
He denied that the patient had caught the virus in the hospital, as she only stayed there for three days. The virus’ incubation period, he said, is 14 days.
Mansour expressed the hospital management’s regret that the efforts of the hospital’s employees were being undervalued.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm
