Chile hospital invites in COVID patients' families, gives them rare chance to say goodbye

One of the greatest cruelties of COVID-19 -- an illness that has killed almost half a million people worldwide -- is that many have died alone, and many have been marginally lucky to bid a digital goodbye via a computer tablet or phone.

Medical chiefs at the University of Chile's clinical hospital in Santiago decided, however, to allow family visits and, wherever possible, create a space for a final farewell.

Visitors are screened for the coronavirus and issued with the same protective equipment used by medics, before being guided into the sealed glass rooms where COVID-19 patients are housed. So far, the hospital's ICU has avoided any cases of contagion among its staff.

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"We have always been a unit that advocates strongly not only for our patients but also for their families and we have continued to push for their presence at patients' bedsides," said Carlos Romero, head of the hospital's Intensive Care Unit.

Latin America is now the epicenter of the pandemic and Chile is one of its hardest-hit nations, with cases leaping by several thousands daily and confirmed deaths nearing 5,000.

Dr Romero's hospital is in the impoverished Independencia neighbourhood, which has one of Santiago's highest caseloads and death rates.

Each day at noon, he telephones patients' families to update them, he told Reuters during a recent visit.

"We want to know we have done everything to save a patient and if that's no longer possible, we stay by their side when the end comes, we ensure they aren't in pain, are calm, that their family is aware and, if possible, spends some time with them, even if just for a moment," he said.

One such case was when doctors fought for weeks to save 76-year-old Don Jaime from the clutches of the coronavirus pandemic, but last week recognised they would lose the battle and invited his family into the hospital to say goodbye.

Don Jaime has since passed away.