Ukraine's parallel war with Covid-19 amidst Russian invasion

As fighting in Ukraine continues with Russia pushing ahead with its invasion enters its 21st day, health services in the country are also trying to tackle another battle - the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Alongside Kyiv, the eastern city of Kharkiv had been an epicenter of infections during the various waves of the pandemic.

At the Kharkiv Regional Clinical Infectious Diseases Hospital, which was the leading facility to treat COVID-19 patients in city and region throughout the pandemic, health workers continue to treat virus patients despite the ongoing conflict.

According to the hospital's director, Dr. Pavel Nartov, air raid sirens go off multiple times a day, forcing the ill and weakened patients to be rushed down into the makeshift bomb shelter.

Nartov explained that handling ICU patients that are on ventilators is the most difficult and dangerous part of the process, but also the most crucial, given the dangers of exposing oxygen tanks to bombings and shrapnel.

The war has put a dent in the staffing of the hospital due to transportation troubles, department director Dr. Delar Garbuz said.

But Garbuz added fewer COVID-19 patients have come through the door since the beginning of the Russian aggression because of the large exodus of people from the city.

Daily COVID-19 cases across Ukraine reached record highs of around 40,000 in mid-February of this year, but were on a steady decline when the Russian forces rolled across the border on February 24.

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