E-Paper
80% of Covid-19 beds vacant in Gautam Budh Nagar hospitals
NOIDA: Even as the Covid-19 cases in Gautam Budh Nagar are on the rise, only one-fifth of the total number of beds in different Covid-dedicated hospitals in the
NOIDA: Even as the Covid-19 cases in Gautam Budh Nagar are on the rise, only one-fifth of the total number of beds in different Covid-dedicated hospitals in the district are occupied.
According to officials, there are around 3,000 Covid beds in 12 different government and private hospitals in the district, of which only about 600 are occupied.
The total strength of beds across the five L-1 category hospitals in the district is 1,530, of which around 250 are occupied, the officials said. The L1 beds include 100 in Kailash corona isolation centre (Greater Noida), 250 each in Tata hospital (Sector 125) and Noida Institute of Medical Science (Greater Noida), 900 in Bennett hospital and 30 in Community Health Centre (CHC), Bisrakh.
Out of these L-1 category hospitals, Bennett hospital and CHC (Bisrakh) have been kept in reserve to accommodate patients in an emergency, said Dr Manoj Kushwaha, district surveillance officer.
“In L-2 category hospitals, nearly half the number of beds at the Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) is occupied, while the Super Speciality Paediatric Hospital and Post-Graduate Teaching Institute, also known as Child PGI, has only 22% occupancy. Among other L-2 facilities, while Fortis has 30% occupancy, Kailash hospital (Noida) has around 25% of its bed strength occupied,” he said.
In the L-3 category, the district has only one operational hospital. “While the Tata hospital (Sector 39), which has 250 beds, has not yet started, the 400-bed Sharda hospital is operational. But, only 10% of its beds are occupied as 42 patients were admitted there till Friday,” Kushwaha said.
On Saturday, GB Nagar reported 90 new Covid-19 cases, taking the total number of positive cases to 4,030 in the district, according to the daily health bulletin released by the state government. The district has a total of 953 active cases, the bulletin said. As many as 3,033 patients have been discharged so far, while 38 have died of Covid-19, the bulletin said.
Meanwhile, Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY said that the administration is all set to take care of Covid-19 patients in an effective manner.
“To cope with any emergency, we have plans to raise the number of dedicated beds for Covid-19 patients in the district to at least 5,000. Also, since the state government has already announced price caps for per day treatment at private medical colleges and hospitals, many of them have already started developing exclusive facilities for Covid-19 patients,” he said.
The DM also said that all private and government hospitals have been asked to ensure that all patients, coming to the emergency and other wards, must be treated without any delay. “If any hospital faces difficulties in treating patients, they can refer them to hospitals with better healthcare facilities. But, before referring those patients, that hospital will have to properly co-ordinate with the referred hospital so that the patients do not suffer. However, the standard protocol for Covid-19 will be followed at every step by all these hospitals,” he said.
The DM also said that there is no dearth of doctors and paramedics in any of these Covid-19 facilities. “Since it is always better to have the maximum bench strength, particularly in a pandemic situation, some of these hospitals have also advertised for vacancies of doctors and support staff,” he said.
About the projection of cases in coming months, Suhas said that despite increasing the number of tests, there is no rocketing surge in Covid-19 cases in the district. “The data analysis of July (when surveillance was accelerated in the district) so far indicates that the graph is consistent between the new positives and discharged patients. I hope the number of active cases in the district will never go beyond 2,000,” he said.
The district’s acting chief medical officer Dr Nepal Singh reiterated the DM’s views, saying that the district has adequate capacity of beds to cater to Covid-19 cases. “All facilities are ready with their bench strength. Even the new facility in Sector 39 is all set to be kicked off. The process of appointment of doctors and other para-medical staff has already begun,” he said.
