Gurgaon: Following directions from the district administration, an additional 10 percent of hospital beds in the district have been reserved for treatment of Covid-19 patients.

The fresh directions from the administration have added 495 hospital beds to the 1,740 that were already reserved (across 42 hospitals and healthcare centres in Gurugram), taking the total tally of Covid beds to 2,235. The upgrade also adds 61 beds to the district’s ICU bed capacity — including 23 that will have ventilator support. Of the 2,235 beds allocated for Covid treatment, 1,975 are general beds with oxygen facility (up from 1,541 beds earlier). As of September 20, data showed, that at least 540 of the 1,541 beds (or 27 percent) were occupied. Meanwhile, occupancy of available ICU beds stands at exactly 50 percent, with 130 beds (of total 260) currently in use. The total number of ICU beds include 102 ventilator beds, of which 60 are currently in use. The number of patients on ventilator support has increased by 39.5 percent over the past two weeks, data suggested.

Despite a steady increase in the number of active cases over the past fortnight, occupancy rates of beds have not changed much. General bed occupation has increased by only two percent, while ICU bed occupation has, conversely, reduced by 10 percent since September 8 (despite a 62 percent increase in active cases during the same time). This is because most of the active patients are actually young, asymptomatic and don’t require hospitalisation,” said Dr Ram Prakash, district epidemiologist, pointing out that over 50 percent of Gurugram’s active cases comprise people between the ages of 20 to 40. “They are pulling through with home isolation, allowing us enough capacity to absorb an increase in hospitalisation rate in coming weeks,” said Dr Prakash.

In view of a rising number of Covid infections, district authorities had taken stock of bed availability on September 7, following which an order was issued by the deputy commissioner, Amit Khatri, on September 14, under the Epidemic Disease Act and the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The order (a copy of which is with Hindustan Times) stipulates that 35 percent of all available beds in public and private facilities in the district are to be reserved for Covid-19 patients. “It was earlier 25 percent. The additional beds allocated after last week’s order are all from private hospitals as Civil Hospital does not have the capacity to allocate more beds,” said Dr Jai Prakash Sharma, district surveillance officer, Gurugram.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

₹ 10 - ₹ 1000

NYOOOZ FRIEND

₹ 2000 - ₹ 5000

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.

Stay updated with all the Latest Gurgaon headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.