In the past few days, we have heard more stories from senior doctors at Israel's hospitals and clinics about seriously ill patients who are avoiding going to the emergency room or urgent care centers for lifesaving treatment because they are afraid of contracting coronavirus.
Sadly, we can already say that this has caused some patients serious harm, and if the trend continues, could result in hundreds or thousands more seriously ill requiring intensive treatment, in addition to the country's coronavirus patients. Given the worldwide coronavirus crisis, the Health Ministry should have foreseen this situation and begun making preparations for it weeks ago. Even now, it has not fulfilled its obligations to this sector of Israel's ill.
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When the Health Ministry itself urges the public, with special emphasis on the elderly, to stay at home, and forbids people to meet with others, and when public fear is sky-high, it was only a matter of time before the corona epidemic caused dangerously ill patients to stay away from emergency rooms. If they were to contract coronavirus, these patients could suffer serious harm.
Because of the coronavirus crisis, Israel's hospitals have been working in emergency conditions for a few weeks now, which has disrupted ongoing medical work. Thousands of surgeries and treatments have been canceled. They might not have been urgent, but they were vital for many patients. A number of departments have been closed temporarily because some 3,500 medical and support staff are in quarantine. Over 100 medical workers have contracted the virus.
What's more, some 50,000 Israelis are currently in quarantine at home. Some senior doctors fear that some of them will refrain from seeking necessary medical treatment. In addition, psychiatric and geriatric rehabilitation services have been dealt a serious blow, which in and of itself is causing patients' physical and mental health to take a turn for the worse.
The Health Ministry must work with hospitals and clinics to contain the harm being caused to these patients. They might not be counted in the COVID-19 tally, but they could be part of the wider circle of damage caused by the spread of the virus. The ministry, the country's four HMOs, and the hospitals must take several courses of action to minimize the problem, which could wind up being much more serious than the ministry's scenarios for the number of coronavirus victims.
In an important article published this week, Dr. Rachel Wilf-Miron, a pediatrician, and nurse Mor Saban, who has completed a PhD in emergency medicine, warned of an urgent need to find a solution to the delay in patients seeking treatment, which is so dangerous.
"Steps like this could save lives and prevent a medical situation from growing worse, which would affect the population and the healthcare system in Israel long after a solution has been found for the corona crisis," they wrote.
