By Julia Symmes Cobb

BOGOTA (Reuters) - A COVID patient lies shirtless on a gurney in a chill corridor of a hospital in Colombia's capital Bogota, oxygen tubes coiled on his chest. It takes five staff - in scrubs, masks and face shields - to wheel him into the intensive care unit.

His intubation takes time. To protect themselves from coronavirus-infected saliva during the complicated procedure, the medics place a large orb-like shield over the man's head.