Valley ran out of intensive care unit and ventilator for Covid-19 patients

Every morning, Dr. Samir Kumar Adikali of the Ministry of Health counts from lawmakers and others asking to arrange beds in the intensive care unit and ventilator support at the Covid-19 Designated Hospital for those nearby. I have received 10 calls.

However, as the number of cases increases rapidly and more and more people become seriously ill, these facilities are no longer available and he cannot help them much.

He admits that the government is unable to deal with the increasing number of cases.

“If the number of cases increases at the current pace, people will be deprived of basic medical services,” said Adikari, a co-spokesman for the ministry.

The Sclaraji Tropical Infectious Diseases Hospital, which was completely converted to Covid-19 Hospital, was able to adjust only one serious patient on Monday after moving another patient from the intensive care unit to the general ward.

According to Dr. Sagar Raj Bhandari, the director of the hospital, all 20 intensive care unit beds and 6 ventilators are used.

“I’ve been receiving calls from other hospital and health ministry staff about ICU beds since the morning,” Raj Bhandari told the post. “But we can’t arrange additional ICU beds and ventilators.”

Seriously ill patients are common because new cases of Covid-19 continue to proliferate and beds and ventilators are not available in all intensive care units in public and private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients in the Kathmandu Valley. There is no choice but to adjust or stay in a comfortable bed. Their home.

“The intensive care unit beds and ventilators available in the valley have been completely occupied for the past four days,” said Dr. Santa Kumardas, coordinator of the Covid-19 management team at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Told. “Currently, no ICU bed or ventilator can be found at any hospital in Kathmandu.”

According to data provided by the Ministry of Health, 11,074 people in the valley have been infected in the last 10 days.

As of Monday 89,263 People across the country tested positive for the coronavirus, killing 554 people. In the last 24 hours, 2,440 people have been positive, including 1,531 in the Kathmandu Valley.

The Ministry of Health said 19 people died of the infection on Monday.

Due to this rapid increase in the number of new cases, the number of moderate cases requiring oxygen supply and severe cases requiring intensive care and mechanical ventilation support is also increasing.

“There is an increased risk of infected people dying without oxygen supply, intensive care and mechanical ventilation,” Das said.

Severe patients admitted to the intensive care unit and on ventilator support will take several days to recover due to serious damage to their lungs and other important organs, doctors said. That is.

However, according to Mahendra Prasad Shrestha, chief expert at the Ministry of Health, the government has decided to discharge patients within 10 days to relieve pressure on the hospital.

Data provided by the Ministry of Health show that there are 559 intensive care units and 239 ventilators in Covid-19 designated hospitals nationwide. Of these, there are 154 intensive care units and 62 ventilators in the valley.

“The government is working to increase the number of ICU beds and ventilators, which will be lower than the rate of increase in the number of cases,” said Adhikari, co-spokesman for the Ministry of Health. ..

In April, there were 1,551 beds and 770 ventilator beds in intensive care units nationwide. Currently, these numbers are 2,600 and 900, respectively.

Das, coordinator of the Covid-19 management team at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, proposes to have an intensive care unit in one location as it requires a lot of technical staff to treat and manage critically ill patients. I will. Patients are unlikely to receive optimal treatment if they are dispersed across many hospitals, he said.

The Ministry of Health has already advised the Cabinet to implement another blockade when the number of active transports exceeds 25,000.

According to Adikari, the cutoff value based on the ministry’s estimates based on the availability of beds, including private hospitals, was 25,000.

“Then our medical facility will be overwhelmed,” he added.

Public health experts say that time has passed to do a lot to control the spread of the infection.

“Authorities should now focus on increasing ICU beds, ventilators and oxygen supplies to save lives,” former Health Services Director Dr. Mingmar Gyelgen Sherpa told the post. “But you shouldn’t stop testing and contact tracing. This is always important. If you can save just a few lives, it will be a big win.”

However, despite such warnings from doctors and public health professionals, the government is forcing the decision to reduce the number of tests, make contact tracing ineffective, and maintain physical distance. not.