Over 100 beds available for first time in three weeks

After a gap of nearly three weeks, the availability of oxygen beds for Covid-19 patients crossed the three-digit mark, with around 127 oxygen beds available across 14 Covid-19 hospitals in the district on Wednesday afternoon, as per the Gurugram Covid Combat Companion (GC3) real-time portal managed by the district administration Officials attributed the improvement in bed availability to the recent reduction in cases, increase in recovery and the simultaneous increase in infrastructure

After a gap of nearly three weeks, the availability of oxygen beds for Covid-19 patients crossed the three-digit mark, with around 127 oxygen beds available across 14 Covid-19 hospitals in the district on Wednesday afternoon, as per the Gurugram Covid Combat Companion (GC3) real-time portal managed by the district administration

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Officials attributed the improvement in bed availability to the recent reduction in cases, increase in recovery and the simultaneous increase in infrastructure. As per a release by the administration, the number of people recovering from Covid-19 was more than the new cases for the sixth consecutive day. There were 3,960 recoveries in Gurugram on Wednesday, while 2,747 new cases were registered, the release stated.

“The recent trend has been encouraging. We have had a lower number of Covid-19 cases, higher rates of recovery that have reduced the burden on existing infrastructure. Over the last three weeks, we have also ramped up the infrastructure and added more than 1,000 Covid-19 beds across the city. While the signs are positive, until the Covid-19 situation is fully under control, we will continue to take both preventive and preparatory measures,” said Dr Yash Garg, the deputy commissioner of Gurugram.

He said that the administration will further augment the strength of Covid-19 beds, by adding at least 400 more within the next seven days.

As per the daily health bulletin, the number of new Covid-19 cases per week decreased for the first time in a month, with the district recording 25,860 new cases between May 3 and 9, lower than the 27,358 new cases recorded over the previous week between April 26 and May 2.

There has also been a rise in the recovery rate of Covid-19 patients recently. Between April 26 and May 2, the total number of recoveries was 13,120, which nearly doubled between May 3 and 9 to 27,603, indicating that recoveries were higher than new cases by a margin of 1,743.

Increased recoveries and discharge of Covid-19 patients from hospitals has also increased the availability, said administration officials. As recently as last Tuesday, May 4, all of the city’s Covid-19 beds were occupied, but since Saturday, the availability of oxygen beds has been consistently improving.

According to the coronaharya.in portal, the district currently has 3,083 Covid-19 beds, of which 1,795 are oxygen beds, 552 are general beds, 736 are ICU beds, and 244 are ventilator beds, a significant increase from the 1,948 Covid-19 beds reported on April 20, of which 466 were ICU beds and 226 were ventilator beds.

On April 20, the last time more than 100 oxygen beds were available, the district had 129 non-occupied Covid-19 oxygen beds, four ICU beds, and a solitary ventilator bed. The portal, at the time, did not display the total number of oxygen beds or general beds in the city.

“The situation of oxygen beds has improved, especially over the last three days. Earlier, we were having around 30-40 extra Covid-19 patients looking for beds on a daily basis. Now, there are only five to 10 such patients. The pattern of patients has also changed. The five to 10 people are patients, coming from districts near Gurugram, usually looking for ICU or ventilator beds, as their respective districts have limited availability. Now. we frequently have oxygen beds available,” said Dr PN Kakar, the chief executive officer of Park Hospital.

Kakar said that until early this month, a sense of panic prevailed that also added to the demand for oxygen beds.

“Now, such patients prefer to isolate at home and realise that they don’t necessarily need treatment inside a hospital. Virtual consultations for such patients have also increased, which, along with the recent decline in Covid-19 cases and higher recovery rates, have mitigated the beds situation,” said Kakar.

While the situation of Covid-19 oxygen beds has improved, the same cannot be said for the ICU and ventilator beds situation. As per the GC3 app, throughout Wednesday, the city had less than a dozen ventilator or ICU beds, each, and by night, only a solitary ICU bed was available and all ventilator beds were occupied.

Although there has been a recent decline in Covid-19 cases, studies and experts have pegged the second wave of Covid-19 to peak around mid-May or next month.

According to the three-member national Covid-19 supermodel committee, formed by the central government to make projections regarding the spread of the pandemic and follow its trajectory, the second wave is expected to peak around mid-May, as does a State Bank of India (SBI) research report. A report by CLSA, a foreign capital market firm, pegs the spike to peak in June.