Covid wards in major Bengaluru hospitals are fully occupied

With the number of Covid-19 cases in Bengaluru steadily rising, the majority of hospitals treating the infections have reported that most of their beds are full, and doctors fear that demand for ICU beds will cause infrastructure and human resource issues in the coming days.

Although 80 percent of the cases in the second wave are asymptomatic and only require home isolation, Covid wards in major hospitals in the city are full. Intensive care beds account for 10% of the beds in a 1,000-bed hospital. According to physicians, at least 40-50 percent of beds in Covid treatment for serious patients should be in ICUs.

The state’s health and family welfare department recently asked hospitals to set aside 10% of their total beds for Covid cases at a meeting with prominent hospitals and medical colleges. Currently, the majority of severe Covid patients are treated in government hospitals. Private hospital beds for Covid would be used in a phased way, unlike last year.

Both hospitals must have 10% of their beds reserved for Covid patients within a week, according to the BBMP.

Both hospitals must set aside 10% of their beds for Covid patients within the next week. The percentage of beds will be increased as required, according to a BBMP officer.

150 of the 162 Covid beds at the Trauma and Emergency Care Centre on the Victoria Hospital campus attached to Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute are occupied, according to Dr. Smitha Segu, nodal officer. The medical college is constructing a 130-bed Covid facility at Victoria Hospital’s “C” block.

Dr. Segu said Some of the patients are senior citizens with comorbidities. We have clusters of families seeking admission in some cases. Younger members of the family with milder symptoms are only admitted. If the number of cases rises, the hospital will be forced to release the asymptomatic children, she added.

Hospitals that offer both Covid and non-Covid services said that having adequate human capital is a challenging job. 89 of the 100 beds at MS Ramaiah Medical College Hospital’s Covid facility are occupied. There are 15 patients in the intensive care unit.

At this time last year, Hospitals only had about 100-150 non-Covid patients in their facility and they were able to accept more Covid patients. Hospitals in daily ICUs are now full. Managing both Covid and non-Covid treatment seems complicated now.