Hospitalisation drop: 79% general beds vacant in Covid dedicated hospitals

After being overcrowded with hospitalisation for more than one and a half months, Kurmitola General Hospital on Wednesday saw 81 vacant beds in its general unit.

The same scenario could be seen in other hospitals in the capital, including Mugda Medical College Hospital, Dhaka Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), at present 79.35% of all general beds in Covid-19 dedicated hospitals in the country are vacant.

The pressure has dropped in intensive care units (ICU) as well, with 57.55% of ICU beds remaining unused.

Meanwhile, the health department reported 52 deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours till Wednesday 8am, which is the lowest in the past 87 days. Earlier on 13 June, 47 people had died of the virus in a day.

Besides, 2,497 more people tested positive for the virus in the corresponding period, with 27,528 samples tested across the country.

According to data released by the DGHS, out of 16,317 general beds in Covid-19 dedicated hospitals, 12,949 are currently vacant. In addition, 747 ICU beds out of 1298 are without patients at present. Of these, Covid-19 dedicated government-run hospitals have 161 vacant ICU beds.

"Patient pressure has decreased a lot in our hospital. Currently, we have 472 people admitted here. The number of patients had dropped down to 450 in the previous two weeks. But, there has been a slight increase in the last two days. We want to monitor the situation for the next few days," Brigadier General Dr Md Nazmul Haque, Director, Dhaka Medical College Hospital told The Business Standard (TBS).

However, all of the ICU beds in the hospital remains occupied. But, Dr Nazmul is optimistic about the current situation.

"Despite all ICU beds being occupied, the number of patients waiting to be admitted has dropped a bit. Overall, the Covid-19 situation at present is favourable," said the doctor.

Dr Asim Kumar Nath, director of Mugda Medical College Hospital, told TBS, "At present, we are not refusing any patients, everyone's getting a bed. Right now, we have 153 patients admitted to the hospital. On average, we are seeing 20 patients being admitted, compared to 80-90 patients last month. Some days, even one or two ICU beds remain vacant now."

"Hospitalisation is decreasing, but we need to be wary of how long will this situation prevail. If people continue to neglect wearing masks, the situation will get worse again," warned Dr Asim.

According to DGHS data, the positivity rate on Wednesday remained below 10% for the fifth day in a row with 9.07% of samples turning out positive.

With the latest addition, 26,736 people have died of the virus so far and 15,22,302 people have been infected with the virus since the outbreak in the country.