KPBS Midday Edition

Doctors Without Borders Treating COVID-19 Patients In Converted Tijuana Basketball Arena

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Megan Burke / News Editor

Published May 7, 2020 at 12:20 PM PDT

This story was published more than 3 years ago.

Doctors Without Borders touring the basketball arena in Tijuana that has been transformed into a hospital ward for COVID-19 patients in this undated photo.

Medical personnel from Doctors Without Borders are treating patients who have tested positive for the disease but who do not need to be in the hospital's intensive care unit.

A basketball arena in Tijuana has been transformed into a hospital ward for COVID-19 patients, as the death toll in that city continues to rise. Doctors Without Borders is running the facility to help patients who’ve tested positive for the disease but who do not need to be in the hospital's intensive care unit.

"We decided to come to Tijuana because Baja California is one of the states in Mexico that is very much affected by the number of contagious and the case fatality rate in Tijuana is above the average of Mexico," Laura Gómez, a field coordinator in Tijuana for MSF, the abbreviation for the French name of the group, Médecins Sans Frontières, said.

MSF said it has the capacity to care for 50 patients at a time and will only treat patients transferred from Tijuana General Hospital which is reportedly nearing capacity.

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Gómez joined Midday Edition on Thursday to talk about the work of MSF in Tijuana.

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KPBS Midday Edition Tijuana COVID-19

Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Megan Burke

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Megan Burke is an Emmy-award winning news editor overseeing the environment, health, and racial justice and social equity reporting beats. Prior to her current role as editor, Megan spent more than a decade as a producer for KPBS Midday Edition, a daily radio news magazine and podcast. Other news production credits include KPBS Evening Edition, KPBS Roundtable, and San Diego’s DNA, a two-part documentary highlighting the region’s oldest traditions and culture using personal artifacts and oral histories of San Diegans.

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