Coronavirus: Enough beds but no staff, Mysuru stumped

MYSURU: With Covid-19 cases rising, the Mysuru district administration is walking the tightrope, trying to put in place both infrastructure for patients and medical staff to look after them. As per data accessed by TNIE, the district has 2,697 beds exclusively for COVID patients at government and private hospitals and COVID Care Centres (CCC). But as on Sunday, only 1,178 beds were occupied, while over 57% of the total beds or 1,519 are vacant.

The district has arranged 444 beds at major government hospitals, including the new district hospital, VV Puram Maternity Hospital, ESI Hospital and Vikram Hospital (exclusively for COVID warriors), of which 270 beds are occupied. As many as 49 major private hospitals have reserved 867 beds for COVID treatment, of which 270 are occupied. Also, there are 1,005 beds at COVID Care Centres in the district, of which only 443 have been taken up.

This suggests that there is no dearth of beds as the district administration has made sufficient arrangements, but most of these facilities are struggling because of lack of staff. Deputy Commissioner Abhiram G Sankar said, “We have enough beds, but proportionate staff is a problem. Non-COVID care will be hit badly if we fully utilise the COVID beds.

It’s a delicate balance.” The shortage of trained nurses, cleaning staff and other Group D employees required for the care of COVID patients is compounded by the fact the many staffers have caught the disease themselves. Though the district health department has begun recruiting nurses, there is no clarity on what basis the hiring should be done, officials said. Private hospitals too are finding it tough to get nurses and cleaning staff.