Bengal issued several opinions on the management of COVID-19 patients (File)
Kolkata:
With 895 cases, West Bengal reported the highest peak of new cases in 24 hours. There have been 21 deaths in the past 24 hours. The state capital, Kolkata, also peaked with 244 new cases. The state reported 743 new cases on Saturday. Besides Kolkata, the most affected regions are the north and the south of the district of 24 Parganas – large areas in these two districts are part of the great Kolkata.
In just 5 days in July, 3,567 cases were reported in the state. Of these, 1,187 were in Calcutta. 89 people infected with COVID-19 died in Bengal, including 39 in Calcutta.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said at recent press meetings that the number of Kolkata is high because patients are referred from districts to Kolkata hospitals.
The state government has issued several opinions on the management of COVID-19 patients. The state has warned against indiscriminate use of antibiotics, especially for the elderly.
Awake ventilation while lying down should be attempted before placing the patient on conventional mechanical ventilation.
The advisories recommend better maintenance of the Bed Head Ticket oxygen management records and warn against nosocomial infections.
The availability of beds with intensive care support is also a concern.
Bengal has 10,600 COVID-19 beds in public hospitals and 8,018 are vacant. Thus, 75% of the beds in public hospitals are vacant or the occupation is around 25%.
But private hospitals tell a different story. There are 1,138 beds in private hospitals. Only 107 (9.4%) are vacant. Occupancy is 90%, which basically means that patients are rushing to private hospitals.
The state has only 948 intensive care beds in COVID-19 hospitals and 395 ventilators.
The number of beds or ventilators in ICUs in private and public hospitals was not mentioned in the data shared by the state government.
