BENGALURU: Medical experts are recommending that the government change the current policy of reserving 50 per cent of beds in each private hospital for Covid-19 cases. Instead, they suggest, entire hospitals be dedicated to either Covid or non-Covid care. The Indian Medical Association (IMA), Karnataka branch, which is not in agreement with the current system, intends to write to the state government suggesting this.
For instance, at the Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences, Bengaluru, A and B blocks have around 500 beds each. Dr Srinivas, state secretary, IMA Karnataka, who is also a professor and head of the Paediatrics Department at KIMS, said, “Though A block is meant for non-Covid patients, only 15-20 beds are filled as people are scared of contracting the virus.
They delay treatment and come rushing when they fall seriously ill. As opposed to 40-50 children admitted at the paediatric section, there are only 4-5 right now. It was a wrong decision by the state government to order all hospitals to have both Covid and non-Covid services.” Big corporate hospitals or hospitals attached to medical colleges have managed to dedicate one of their buildings or branches for Covid, but smaller hospitals and nursing homes do not have the infrastructure to do that.
Dr Ashok Rao, owner of Vinayaka Hospital in South Bengaluru, said, “An ILI patient who tests positive can be sent to a dedicated Covid hospital near his home, while a maternity patient or a person suffering a heart attack can go to a non-Covid facility. No matter how much we train ward boys, ayahs and nurses in wearing and removing PPE, there remains a risk of corona infection spreading.” “In a small maternity hospital like mine, there is only one entry and exit. While big droplets can settle on surfaces like the reception desk or chair, the smaller droplets will hang in the air and will enter the body of a non-COVID patient,” he added.
The threat of a hospital turning into a Covid cluster looms large, said Dr Ganesh Prasad, chairman, harassment committee, IMA Karnataka. Standard precautionary measures for Covid will not be feasible at all times in a hospital among Covid patients and their attenders.“There are common spaces where corona-positive and corona-negative patients congregate, like a counter or pharmacy. Doctors and nurses treating the two sets of patients are the same and become carriers of the virus. A patient with a stomach pain, for instance, will have less immunity and can be easily attacked by coronavirus in a hospital setting,” he said.
A bureaucrat, health secretary or politician is taking decisions without taking doctors and hospital owners into confidence, he said.
State crosses 1.5 lakh mark
Bengaluru: Karnataka crossed the 1.5 lakh mark with 5,619 fresh Covid cases on Wednesday. The tally now stands at 1,51,449 with the positivity rate at 9.88 per cent. The state also saw 100 fatalities, taking the toll to 2,804. The mortality rate has more or less plateaued at 1.85 per cent since August 2, while the national average is at 2.07 per cent. The state’s positivity rate is 9.88 per cent, marginally more than the national figure of 9.11 per cent. Karnataka positivity rate has been consistently rising since July 5 when it was just 3.32 per cent. The state’s active cases marginally went up to 73,958 compared to the previous day’s 73,846. It stands third in states with the highest number of active cases after Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. Bengaluru Urban recorded 1,848 cases, 3,083 discharges and 29 deaths. ENS