Overwhelmed hospitals not taking in patients
Covid patients are not getting admitted even after visiting one hospital after another
Bangladesh detected the highest number of Covid-19 cases in a day till as16,230 patients were diagnosed with the disease till Wednesday 8 am.
The number of Covid-19 cases is breaking records every day since the end of the Eid holidays.
The hospitals are struggling to cope with the pressure even after admitting extra patients to the beds.
Now major hospitals like Mugda General Hospital and Dhaka Medical College Hospital stopped patients' admission due to the bed crisis, although the ICU bed crisis has been intense for so long.
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Covid patients are not getting bed even after visiting one hospital after another.
The number of daily deaths saw a sharp rise as 237 people died of the virus in the last 24 hours.
With the latest figures, the death toll crossed the 20,000- mark at 20,016 and the case tally stands at 12,10,982, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
Meanwhile, the authorities confirmed a 30.12% positivity rate after testing 53,887 samples in 639 labs across the country.
Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) has 705 dedicated beds for Covid patients, with 762 admitted on Wednesday. There were 57 additional patients admitted.
Brigadier General Nazmul Haque, director, DMCH, told TBS, "We are not able to admit all the patients due to the bed crisis. It is difficult for us to supply oxygen to the extra patients. We have 705 beds with oxygen connections. So, we are not admitting new patients unless some patients are released."
Brigadier General Nazmul Haque said the number of patients waiting for ICU as well as general bed has increased multiple times more than before.
Now people may benefit a little if BSMMU's 1000-bed hospital is started soon. If the infection cannot be prevented, the situation cannot be managed by increasing the number of beds in the hospital, he opined.
Mugda Medical College Hospital, where patients have been receiving treatment since the beginning of Covid-19 infection in the country, is not admitting patients due to bed crisis. Most of the patients who came to the hospital for admission had to return on Wednesday.
Dr Ashim Kumar Nath, director of Mugda Hospital, told TBS, patient pressure has increased over the past few days, making it difficult to admit new patients since Tuesday.
"Every day we can release 30-40 patients but 100 patients are coming for admission. If the old patient is released from the hospital, it will be possible to admit a new patient."
Dr Ashim said 320 Covid patients are admitted to the hospital. If we admit more patients at the moment, many of the patients here will not get enough oxygen.
Kurmitola General Hospital has been admitting 20-30 more patients than beds since the beginning of July. Currently, the number of additional patients coming for admissions has increased. On Tuesday, the hospital had 361 patients against 275 beds dedicated to Covid patients.
Besides, Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Hospital also has more patients than beds.
Of the 16 Covid-dedicated government hospitals in Dhaka, 13 have ICU facilities. Of these, 11 hospitals did not have any vacant ICU beds on Wednesday. Only four ICU beds lay vacant in two Covid dedicated hospitals in Dhaka.
Dr ANM Mizanur Rahman, Covid unit Focal Person, 100-bed Narsingdi hospital, told TBS, "We have 108 patients admitted in the 80-bed ward. We have stopped admitting new patients due to bed shortage. Not all patients are getting oxygen properly because the oxygen allotted for 80 beds has to be given to additional 28 patients. Every day at least 40-50 new patients are coming for admission, we are helpless but refer them to Dhaka with first aid.
Professor Dr Nazmul Islam, DGHS spokesperson, said "We have increased the number of beds, the process of setting up a field hospital is underway. But increasing the number of beds is not the only way to deal with epilepsy."
The chain of transmission that exists must be broken. If the infection does not spread from person to person, the pressure on the hospitals will decrease, he added.
