As only 76 of 2K beds occupied, call to trim Covid centres

Nischith N | NT

A comparative study of all admitted Covid-19 patients in Bengaluru hospitals suggests that during the ongoing third wave, occupancy of beds and oxygen requirement is not high compared to the prior two waves of the coronavirus infection. Now, the demand is to remove most of the hospitals from the Covid treatment list. According to reports, Bengaluru city has 62 Covid hospitals with 2,129 reserved beds for treatment of the pandemic, but data showed the surprising trend that only 77-plus have been filled and the remaining are empty.

“The key finding notes that the percentage occupancy of ICU beds, however, is not high compared to the first two waves. During the second wave last year when Bengaluru was recording 10,000 Covid-19 positive cases per day, hospitals across the city were full and no ICU beds were available. In comparison to that, in the current wave when the state capital recorded its highest positive cases in a single day, the hospital Covid occupancy across the networks was less. There is no crisis inside our hospitals,” says a BBMP health official.

In recent months, the BBMP asked hospitals and nursing homes in the city to start preparations to handle a possible surge in Covid cases. Based on this, 18 government hospitals, two government medical colleges and 42 private hospitals across Bengaluru reserved most of their beds for the treatment of Covid as BBMP referral hospitals.

“According to a recent study, oxygen demand was at a nominal rate during the current wave as compared to the first second waves when it was high. Also, the Omicron variant seems to be causing milder symptoms. Lesser numbers of patients are requiring hospitalisation and the strain on healthcare services in terms of oxygen requirement is also much lesser. Even today, many of them are witnessing only mild symptoms. It is expected that the number of people walking into these hospitals will be even less in the coming days. All thanks to the Covid -19 vaccinations, so it is better that the government remove most of its Covid hospitals and utilise them for other treatments” said Dr Vikas M, city-based anaesthesiologist, who takes care of Covid patients.

However, health officials claim they want to be prepared and make sure that there are no surprises, and plan accordingly by discussing with experts. As of now, 1,435 in government hospitals and 694 beds in private hospitals have been reserved for Covid. Data shows that except Bowring Hospital, all other hospitals have only one or two patients.