The rush is almost inevitable as cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi are registering a rapid rise in covid infections and a spike in hospital admissions lately. But most cases are mild and only a few needed ventilator or oxygen support. Chennai registered a more than three-fold increase in the number of patients in hospitals: 1,754 patients on January 3, compared to 507 on December 3.
NEW DELHI: The wail of ambulance sirens is getting a little frequent. Hospital emergency rooms are getting busier, and buzzier. The rush is almost inevitable as cities like Chennai, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi are registering a rapid rise in coronavirus infections and a spike in hospital admissions lately. But most cases are mild and only a few needed ventilator or oxygen support.
Chennai registered a more than three-fold increase in the number of patients in hospitals: 1,754 patients on January 3, compared to 507 on December 3. On January 4, the inpatient tally rose to 1,931. With this, nearly 14% of total beds in Tamil Nadu were occupied as against 4% a month ago. Besides, more than one-fifth of the oxygen beds in the state were taken, compared to 6% a month ago.
In Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital, the Delhi government’s biggest pandemic hospital, there were 10 Covid patients in November-end. It has reached 70 now. The government has asked all hospitals and nursing homes having over 50 beds to reserve 40% of them for Covid cases, as was done during the second wave.
In Mumbai, 834 hospitalisations were recorded on Tuesday, up from 574 on Monday and 503 on Sunday. Compared to average daily hospitalisations seen about five days ago, the jump is almost 68%. Civic authorities said of Mumbai’s 35,000 hospital beds, about 15% was currently taken. ET