Bhubaneswar: The burgeoning cases of Covid-19 in the state have started straining the healthcare setups in Bhubaneswar with major private hospitals in the city showing full occupancy.
Representatives from Apollo Hospital, AMRI Hospital, CARE Hospital and others claimed that their beds dedicated to Covid patients are full and there is no space for fresh admissions.
Apollo Hospital in the state capital has a total of 32 beds for Covid-19 patients while three ICU beds for Covid patients have been kept ready. However, all of these beds are fully occupied by Covid patients, the hospital administration said. The hospital is now mulling to expand its beds for Covid patients and might double the beds to cater to the rising needs of Covid infected.
Similarly, AMRI Hospital has a total of 75 dedicated beds for Covid patients but all of them are occupied by the patients and there is no space for new patients unless beds are vacated by existing patients.
The situation at CARE Hospital in the city is no different as around 78 beds for Covid patients have been fully occupied as on Thursday night. With the current figures, now the stress on government hospitals has increased manifold. The state government has recently expanded the bed capacity for Covid patients at SUM Hospital, Blue Wheel Hospital, Hi-Tech Hospital and others to cater to the needs of serious Covid patients who need critical care.
However, the state government has been denying full occupancy of hospital beds or ICUs for Covid patients.
Niranjan Mishra of state Public Health department did not respond to queries on the matter when approached by this reporter.
Significantly, the data given by the Health department Thursday night claimed that out of 4,847 hospital beds available for Covid patients in private hospitals, only 637 are filled – an occupancy rate of 13.14 per cent only.
Similarly, the data for government hospitals said that out of 4,174 beds for Covid patients, only 1,145 beds are occupied – occupancy rate of 27.43 per cent. The government data also claimed that there was no issue of shortage of ICU beds. However, ground reality in Bhubaneswar private hospitals brings to the fore a different picture altogether.
Manish Kumar, OP
