E-Paper
Ludhiana DC instructs all private hospitals to increase L3 bed capacity by 25%
As per official data, there are 481 Level-3 beds in the district, of which 454 were occupied on Sunday while of the 1, 468 Level-2 beds earmarked for Covid patients, 1, 176 had filled up.
With 97% of the Level-3 (critical care) beds occupied in the district, deputy commissioner (DC) Varinder Kumar Sharma on Sunday directed all private hospitals to increase their bed capacity by 25%.
As per official data, there are 481 Level-3 beds in the district, of which 454 were occupied on Sunday while of the 1, 468 Level-2 beds earmarked for Covid patients, 1, 176 had filled up.
DC Sharma said the decision to augment the bed capacity was taken after almost all Covid beds in city hospitals were occupied by Saturday night.
Presiding over a virtual meeting with hospitals, along with deputy director local government (DDLG) Amit Bambi, civil surgeon Dr Kiran Ahluwalia Gill and ADC (D) Sandeep Kumar, the DC said there is an immediate need to scale up the bed capacity in view of the emergent situation. He added that a four-member team, comprising the civil surgeon, DDLG, ADC and the DC himself, will inspect the newly added beds.
On the availability of oxygen, the DC said the administration has already ramped up the oxygen capacity by nearly 33% (2, 900 cylinders daily). He said earlier, Vardhman Steel Plant had been filling up 1, 500 cylinders of medical oxygen a day but now it has increased its capability to 2, 100 cylinders a day.
Similarly, Weltech Equipment and Infrastructure Limited had also been generating additional oxygen, he said.
The DC further requested the public to refrain from calling their relatives to the district.
“We are augmenting bed and oxygen facilities in the district. That does not mean that we should call people from distant locations for treatment in Ludhiana hospitals. The surplus arrangements have been made to meet any exigency,” said Sharma.
He is the second senior official to urge city residents to avoid inviting people living in other states for treatment in Ludhiana.
He reiterated that people should avoid venturing out unnecessarily and also assured the migrants that factories will remain open. “However, I urge businessmen to discourage crowding in their respective units. If the set protocols are followed, the situation may improve in 15 to 20 days. We
have the example of Delhi and Maharashtra before us. We should not land ourselves in a similar situation,” said Sharma.
On the other hand, Dr Saroj Aggarwal, president of Indian Medical Association’s Ludhiana Chapter, said, “It is time the government takes control of the bigger medical institutions. The small hospitals neither have the manpower nor L-3 infrastructure to accommodate more patients. Since elective surgeries have been stopped in all hospitals, the ICU and beds of these departments are lying vacant. These can be put to use for treatment of Covid patients,” said Dr Aggarwal.
