DOI: 10.36347/sjmcr.2023.v11i03.016

Pages: 310-314

Introduction: The first confirmed case of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Ecuador was on February 29, 2020. Ecuador’s response to this novel illness started on February 26, 2020, with initial measures as monitoring of temperature, which were strengthened after the WHO declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic outbreak on March 11, 2020. As part of the health system of Ecuador, the First Armed Forces Specialty Hospital (AH-1), located in Quito, provides care to COVID-19 patients since March 2020. Material and Methods: Using medical records of that health facility (HF), this report describes 407 hospitalized and 200 non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients evaluated in this hospital during March 23 - October 15, 2020. Results and Discussion: As of April, 2020, the hospital requires all individuals needing to be evaluated in this facility to present results of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) or rapid antigen (RA) tests. This testing is performed by the hospital depending on availability of testing materials. All patients who are admitted to the hospital emergency room presenting with respiratory symptoms are diagnosed of COVID-19 by chest computed tomography (CT-scan) and clinical evaluation. During August 1, 2020-January 13, 2021, trained personnel abstracted information from medical records of COVID-19 patients treated in the AH-1 during March 23 - October 15, 2020. Most (67.1%) of the patients were hospitalized. Male non-hospitalized patients (74.5%) and male hospitalized patients (71.0%) were more frequent. Hospitalized patients were older (median age = 57.0 years) than non-hospitalized patients (median age = 39.5 years). The longest length of stay of the recovered patients (56 hospitalization days) was larger than the longest length of stay of the patients that died for COVID-19 (31 hospitalization days). Conclusion: This report provides information on how the AH-1 proceeded to manage COVID-19 cases using scarce resources and information. These results can inform....