Only 22% hospital beds in Gurugram occupied by Covid-19 patients: Data

Only 22% of the 1,486 hospital beds earmarked for the Covid-19 patients in the city are currently occupied, according to the data published by the district health

Only 22% of the 1,486 hospital beds earmarked for the Covid-19 patients in the city are currently occupied, according to the data published by the district health department. Officials said that only symptomatic patients with underlying health conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes, are being hospitalised, while asymptomatic patients are in home isolation. With the decline in the Covid-19 positivity rate to nearly 8% and the number of Covid-19 patients requiring tertiary care, most of the reserved hospital beds continue to remain unused.

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Currently, the administration has reserved 1,486 general isolation ward beds — including 192 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds and 92 beds with ventilator support system — across 40 government and private hospitals in the city.

Of 1,486 beds, 335 were occupied as on Thursday. Out of these, 136 beds are occupied by patients from Gurugram, while 199 by patients are from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, parts of Haryana, and other states.

The bed occupancy has dipped consistently over the last month due to overall decline in the positivity rate, according to the hospitalisation data. On June 30, at least 417 Covid-19 patients — all Gurugram residents — were admitted in the hospital. By July 7, it had come down to 197, and further to 175, on July 14, and 148 on July 21. The last time the number of people in hospitals was this low was in May, when the city had less than 1,000 cases.

The district administration, however, cleared that they have no plans to de-escalate the preparations made for the Covid-19 treatment. Vivek Kalia, nodal officer for Covid-19 hospital management said, “Private hospitals have been directed to reserve 25% of their bed capacity for Covid-19. The capacity can be further escalated to additional 35% in case there is a surge in the number of cases. According to a state government order, a maximum of 60% beds can be reserved in the private hospitals. However, there has been no step towards the further expansion as the existing capacity continues to remain unused.”

As per the district administration’s report on Covid-19 Health Facilities and Bed Management Report, the city required 18,000 beds for critical patients if the total number of Covid-19 patients crossed 1.5 lakh-mark. However, with the total count of infections at 8,266, the district continues to remain well below the projected mark.

Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer(CMO), said, “The hospitalisation should not be more than 10% of the infected patients. All the asymptomatic patients are being asked to home isolate, while those with symptoms are shifted to Covid care centres and hospitals based on their underlying health conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes. This helps in controlling the fatality rate too.” Gurugram’s current fatality rate is 1.45%, while the recovery rate is at 84.62%.

Patients prefer home isolation

Data shows that nearly 83% of the active cases are currently home isolated, while only 12% are hospitalised. At least 955 patients are in home isolation while 136 are in hospitals, according to the district health bulletin. On Thursday, 139 new Covid-19 cases were reported, taking the total count of infected person to 8,266. Of which 1,152 are active cases. In the last 24 hours, 85 patients have recovered, taking the total count of the recovered patients to 6,995. With one Covid-19 death, the death toll of the district stands at 119. Out of which, 81 deaths are due to co-morbidity and 38 are without co-morbidities.

“Immediate hospitalisation is required only for those patients who report health issues and call on 108 (ambulance referral service) to get admitted to an isolation ward of a hospital after being suggested either by the local Rapid Response Team (RRTs) or a physician,” said Dr Jai Prakash Sharma, district surveillance officer.

He said that asymptomatic patients tested positive for the coronavirus are being home isolated. “Those tested Covid-19 positive prefer home isolation as it is more comfortable than hospitalisation. Even as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines, positive patients who do not report health issues should be home isolated. In case, there isn’t adequate facilities at the house like separate rooms or care giver, then patients are put in covid care centres.”

He said that at present there are 61 patients in the Covid care centres, which are isolation facilities set up in hotels. As per health officials, most patients prefer to stay at a government-paid facility.