No Space Available: 4-Month-Old Child with Covid-19 Not Hospitalized for Five Hours

Facebook user Mariam Mughdusyan has raised an alarm: her 4-month-old child has been experiencing fever since 19:00 yesterday. After bringing the child to Wigmore for treatment and undergoing a COVID-19 test, the result came back positive at 21:00. Since that moment, they tried to get hospitalized without success.

They went to the Arabkir Medical Complex, where a doctor, who never introduced herself, kept repeating like a mantra, 'There is no space available.' Only after insistent requests did they attempt to contact some triage center to get directions on where to send them. They did not even suggest applying to another facility. Moreover, no further treatment was offered; the doctor merely stated, 'There is no space available.' Throughout this time, all fever-reducing measures were taken by me personally, and I was the one measuring the temperature.

After the insistence of my sister and my mother, they finally began to pay some attention. For some unknown reason, the aforementioned doctor did not submit a report to the triage center for about an hour after we visited. Meanwhile, they informed us that if the triage center approved it, they would have space at Muratsan, so we should bring the child there. The triage center, however, said, 'No, Muratsan is not on our list; do not go there.' Importantly, they offered no alternatives.

Someone who presented themselves as the on-duty physician stated via the triage's phone number, 'If necessary, you'll wait another four hours,' and then hung up the phone, showing indifference to the child's life and health. Now I am addressing Anahit Avanesyan, the Minister of Health of Armenia. Imagine having a high fever, both you and your child, and for around five hours the child has been in your arms, suffering immensely, and you are both exhausted; you haven’t even fully recovered from the cesarean section. Now picture that the child only feeds on milk, but to do that, you need to express it since they cannot suckle from the breast.

In the so-called isolation unit at Arabkir, it is unclear how much longer we will have to wait. There are no provisions for disinfecting the breast pump, and you already lack milk after standing for several hours while having a high fever. You attempt to express, and anyone can walk in without notice. This is all irrelevant; the crucial point is that the child must have at least half a gram of milk. Believe me, discussing this publicly is far from pleasant.

You have to forcibly get a response from the on-duty physician, who does not want to say anything of substance. They are confused. Question: How would you feel in my position?

Now, I request an official explanation: if I had done a COVID test at Muratsan and it came back positive, would they have hospitalized us there? If I do it elsewhere, then only to Arabkir or an infectious diseases hospital? Can someone explain the logic behind this, especially since there is almost never available space at Arabkir, and the triage did not redirect us to the infectious diseases hospital either instead saying, 'When we find a convenient time, we will take you, so just sit tight.' I took my child home because keeping a 4-month-old with a high fever in a hot environment or in my arms was no longer feasible, not to mention my own condition as I was fainting from exhaustion, hunger, and pain.

I am also addressing Arsen Torosyan as a person who has led the sector, as a current high-ranking official, and as a parent. Is this treatment towards a small child fair? What assessment would you give to this negligent attitude towards your child?