District administration mulls reducing reserved bed capacity for Covid patients

Faced with a steady decline in Covid-19 cases, the district health department is planning to reduce the reserved bed capacity for seriously ill patients from 50%

Faced with a steady decline in Covid-19 cases, the district health department is planning to reduce the reserved bed capacity for seriously ill patients from 50% to 35% in private hospitals. The department has forwarded the recommendation to district administration for final approval. In the last two weeks, the number of Covid-19 cases has plunged sharply due to which there has been more than 50 percent decline in the number of hospitalised patients.

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According to district health bulletin, Gurugram on Monday recorded 197 new cases. It is almost after three months that district recorded fewer than 200 new infections, taking the total tally to 54,802. Out of these, 2,156 are active cases. Among them, 195 are seriously ill patients, who are currently hospitalised,1,955 are home-isolated, and six are in Covid care centre. Until December 1, the count of patients admitted in hospitals was more than 400 but with the declining weekly test positivity rate of almost seven percent, the overall caseload has come down.

“Since there has been an overall reduction in active cases with proportionate decline in seriously ill patients who require hospitalisation, it has been decided to reduce the reserved bed capacity from 50% to 35%,” said Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram. “The health department has given its recommendation to the deputy commissioner on reducing the reserved bed capacity,” Yadav said,adding that hospitals can use the bed for patients suffering from other illnesses.

Until September, the overall bed capacity reserved for patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 virus was 25 percent. It included both general and ICU beds along with those with ventilator. The bed capacity was then increased from 25% to 35%. Amid the record surge in Covid-19 cases since the last week of October, hospital beds were fast being occupied by serious new infections from Gurugram, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, parts of Haryana and other states.

On November 16, the reserved bed capacity was increased to 50% beds in private hospitals to tackle the surge. The general beds were reserved at 50 percent, while Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed capacity was increased to 75 percent. The decision to increase the number of beds was taken based on the directives issued by Niti Aayog. Presently, almost 2,821 beds are reserved across 42 hospitals. It includes 415 ICU beds and 223 beds with ventilator support system and 2,183 general beds. Out of the total reserved beds, only 580 beds are currently occupied.