Dhaka hospitals may run out of ICU beds as infections jump

Major Covid hospitals in the capital are getting filled with more and more patients as infections rose nearly 50% over the last week. Beds in intensive care units have become scarce, causing long queues of critical patients to get access to the facility. 

No ICU bed was available on Sunday in 10 major public and private hospitals, including Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and Mugda Medical College and Hospital. Daily admissions jumped by as much as 15% to 200% there in a matter of two weeks.

Kurmitola General Hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital and privately owned Ibn Sina Hospital, Popular, Lab Aid, Dhaka Central International Medical College, and Crescent Hospital also did not have a single empty ICU bed on Sunday.

According to the data of the Directorate General of Health Services, however, 312 ICU beds were vacant among 825 beds in 28 Covid hospitals – both public and private -- in Dhaka. And of 5,589 general beds, 2,848 beds were unoccupied.

Sources at several hospitals said patients from outside Dhaka were coming to the capital to get intensive care and were having to run from one hospital to another to get a bed.

Amid the mounting pressure of patients, hospitals are refusing to admit those with mild symptoms and not requiring oxygen support.

Forty-five-year-old Abdul Gani was one of them. Taking him back home to Jatrabari from Mugda hospital, his son Sabbir Ahmed said Abdul had tested Covid positive but showed no critical signs, so doctors advised him to receive treatment at home. 

Minal Hossen, who had taken his mother to the hospital, said doctors suggested hospital admission only if she had any serious complications.

In the meantime, Shahana Akter had to wait for two days to shift her mother from a general bed at the DMCH to its ICU. When she reached the hospital with her mother on Friday, her condition was critical. Doctors immediately put her on high flow oxygen. Sunday afternoon, she got an ICU bed.

"I have seen at least five patients go to another hospital in the last couple of days for the lack of ICU beds," Shahana said.

DMCH Director Brig Gen Nazmul Haque admitted that ICU beds fell short of the need.

He said the hospital was not admitting patients to its ICU directly. Only patients, who have been receiving treatment in Covid wards, are shifted to the ICU when they need the facility and if any bed is vacant.

"We have only 20 ICU beds and all of them are occupied for the last 15 days," Nazmul said.

Of 780 general beds at the DMCH, 595 were occupied until Sunday afternoon.

Although the hospitals have increased their capacity to deal with more patients, the authorities said that if infections continued to spread for another one to two weeks, medical services might be disrupted. 

"We are admitting more than twice as many patients as we did a week ago. Earlier, 8-10 patients were admitted a day but the figure jumped to 25-30," said Dr Ashim Kumar Nath, director of Mugda hospital.

He said doctors and nurses were falling sick with Covid-19 and so it was becoming challenging to provide treatment to the increasing number of patients.

Ashim said that if elderly people could be vaccinated on a priority basis, the death rate would fall.

Director of BSMMU Brig Gen Nazrul Islam Khan said the number of admitted patients in general wards tripled in two weeks to 178 on Sunday afternoon. The hospital has 250 general beds.

Though ICU beds at the hospital are only 20, he said the Covid wards had arrangements to provide high flow oxygen supply to patients, therefore they did not need to be transferred to the ICU unless their condition turned very critical.

Professor Robed Amin, spokesperson of the health directorate, said the virus transmission must be contained.

"If the pressure of patients goes on unchecked, it will be tough for hospitals to accommodate them. Since the delta variant is more contagious, more people are getting infected. Everyone must become aware of preventive measures and follow health guidelines," he said.