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Record 132 Covid deaths in Chhattisgarh on Monday, new cremation grounds opened
On Monday, 18 coronavirus patients died at Ambedkar Hospital, 11 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur and over 60 deaths were reported in private hospitals
Chhattisgarh has opened 14 new centres in the capital city of Raipur to cremate bodies of Covid-19 victims. The move comes a day after videos of victims’ bodies piled up in a hospital went viral even as the state remains among the top eight states in the country where the second wave has surpassed the peak in the first wave last year.
Grappling with the sudden rise in cases as well as fatalities, the administration has also taken measures such as reserving beds and capping treatment costs for Covid patients in private hospitals amid challenges such as RT-PCR results taking over 40 hours, said officials.
On Sunday, videos circulated on social media showed bodies of Covid-19 patients piled up in Ambedkar Hospital in Raipur, reflecting the alarming situation. District health officials attributed the lapse to an “unexpected sudden rise” in the number of deaths.
“Patients of multiple ailments, including coronavirus, are treated in Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Hospital (DBRMAH). Bodies of non-Covid patients are also kept in the mortuary there. Among the deaths, there are also patients who belonged to other districts and their bodies are kept in mortuary too before being shifted to respective areas,” said Pulak Bhattacharya, additional commissioner Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC). On Monday, there were 40 bodies, mostly of Covid victims, in the mortuary of DBRAMH, which was more than its capacity, he added.
“For the last two days, 100 bodies have been cremated daily in Raipur. We have also increased the number of hearses so that bodies can be shifted to crematorium without any delay,” he added.
On Monday, 18 Covid deaths were reported at DBRMAH, 11 at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Raipur and over 60 at private hospitals. Apart from the 14 new cremation centres, Raipur administration has also begun identifying new cremation grounds in every 8-10 villages to deal with the increasing death toll, according to the health department bulletin.
On Monday , Chhattisgarh recorded 13,576 fresh cases, including 3,442 and 1,591 in the two worst-hit districts of Raipur and Durg respectively, while the state-wide death toll mounted to 5,031. This is the sixth consecutive day when the state has recorded more than 10,000 daily cases, taking active Covid cases to 98,856. Tuesday figures were not available on the state health department’s official website at the time of publishing of the report.
Health officials said there were 4,051 beds in 33 dedicated Covid hospitals in the state, which includes 1,341 beds with oxygen facility, 438 HDU (high dependency unit) and 440 ICU (intensive care unit) beds.
“The occupancy in dedicated Covid hospitals in Raipur and Durg is more than 95%,” said a senior health official.
Besides these, there are 70 Covid care centres with more than 10,000 beds, including 1,087 beds with oxygen facilities, and 3,134 beds, including 1,052 with oxygen facilities in private hospitals.
In areas of challenge, RT-PCR test results in the state were taking more than 40 hours in most of the districts, said a health official, who didn’t wish to be named. The health department claimed that more than 40,000 Covid tests were being conducted every day on an average across the state. They said on Saturday, the number of samples tested crossed 50,000, while on Monday, 45,997 tests were conducted. There was a backlog of around 10,000 tests, they added.
On Monday, the Chhattisgarh government fixed a rate slab for treatment of Covid-19 patients, ranging from ₹6,200 to ₹17,000 a day in private hospitals, depending on their condition.
“ ₹6,200 per day will be the cost of treatment of patients with moderate condition, ₹12,000 per day for ICU facility without ventilator for patients in critical condition and ₹17,000 per day including ICU facility with ventilator for very serious patients,” a government issued press release stated.
It also reserved 20% of the beds in private hospitals for Covid-19 patients, taking treatment under the Dr Khubchand Baghel health scheme and Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
