Bengaluru witnesses a sudden decline in Covid deaths, more ICU beds vacant

Bengaluru: As Bengaluru is witnessing a sudden and sharp decline in the number of Covid deaths- 44 deaths on Tuesday, 50 on Wednesday and 47 on Thursday- there has been a rise in vacant critical care beds under the government quota in city hospitals. On Thursday by 4 pm in Bengaluru, around 36% of the ICU beds and 23% ICU beds with ventilators were available.

11 days ago, only 3.3% of ICU beds and 1.5% of ventilator beds were vacant. The availability of ICU beds indicates a decline in the number of deaths. According to the BBMP website, by Thursday evening, out of the 574 ICU beds available, 205 were vacant and 145 of 638 ICU beds with ventilators were vacant.

Also, on Wednesday, a cremation ground at Tavarekere, off Magadi Road, which was set up for Covid victims, witnessed no arrivals.

P Rajendra Cholan, special commissioner of BBMP said that the number of severe and critical cases and deaths are decreasing with a dip in Covid cases. He said, “The Covid death numbers are declining. We are not depending only on deaths reported from hospitals. We are collecting data from the crematoria and tracking home isolation patients too.”

BBMP authorities state that those in home isolation are checked upon through frequent phone calls inquiring about their symptoms. BBMP staffers ring them up on the 10 and 20th days. Cholan said, “The patients are advised to call 1918 in emergency. If there are deaths at home, we check that too. We want to ensure surviving members get insurance benefit.”

The health and family welfare department’s bulletin has the record of deaths reported in the past 24 hours and those that occurred earlier but were reported late.

Private hospitals are also of the view that the fatality rate has declined significantly. Dr Pradeep Rangappa, critical care specialist and member of state Covid-19 critical care support team, said, “It’s the city’s ICUs that sound the alarm bells when cases are rising or decreasing. The situation is improving, and ventilator beds are available.” He also said that the situation is different than it was in April and May when finding an ICU bed was the most difficult part.

Last month, at MS Ramaiah Memorial Hospital, 800 Covid beds were fully occupied but now, only 100 are occupied. Dr KC Gurudev, president of the hospital said, “We’ve 40 of the 100 ICU beds occupied. In the past 10 days, the number of persons seeking admissions has come down. In any pandemic, there will be a rapid surge and a rapid decline. The lockdown has helped. Without the lockdown, the peak would have been much sharper.”

Experts said that a bed crises along with a differential treatment protocol led to an increase in the number of deaths in the state. An expert stated, “There is a lack of homogeneity in ICU care. With the decline in cases, doctors would be able to share their time for each patient better.”