17 Doctors Join Fight Against COVID-19

Seventeen doctors have answered the call from Hospital Director Páll Matthíasson to sign up for work at Landspítali National University Hospital in Reykjavík, to assist in the fight against COVID-19, mbl.is reports. Páll stated Friday that all hands were needed on deck.

“People feel duty bound to participate, and these are people with a lot of experience who want to help out,” states Ragnar Freyr Ingvarsson, who oversees outpatient COVID-19 services at Landspítali.

“People come of their own free will to help out, ” he adds . “We ’re extremely grateful. It’s during times like these that people step forward and do their best.”

“There are red flags everywhere,” he continues, referring to the high number of new confirmed cases in recent days. “During the first wave of the disease we joined forces and defeated it. There is hardly a place in the world where the wave diminished faster than it grew. The curve looked like Hallgrímskirkja church ... By helping each other, we can defeat this wave of the pandemic.”

Once the first wave of the disease had passed, a manual was published with a contingency plan for the hospital.

Ragnar is one of nine people on a  steering committee that forms an emergency response team to fight the pandemic. He trains medical staff and coordinates medical operations throughout the country.

He states that now, different methods are being used against the virus than before. The medications used are Favipiravir to begin with, but those who are hospitalized are treated with Remdesivir and Dexamethasone.

He states the biggest lesson learned from the disease is that recovery takes a long time.

There is no shortage of ventilators at Landspítali, Ragnar states. “We have an ample supply of medications and equipment.”