THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital — the only tertiary care hospital dedicated for giving critical care for category C Covid-19 patients in the district — is struggling to accommodate more Category C patients citing severe staff crunch. This is happening at a time when the test positivity rate is the highest in the state compared to other places. It has been three months since the MCH authorities placed the request for recruiting more staff anticipating the heavy caseload when the pandemic hit the peak.
According to the authorities, the quality of the critical care being provided to the ICU patients is getting compromised due to shortage of hands. Though around 15,000 people have registered for the Covid-19 Brigade to be part of the fight against the pandemic, the state government is yet to give the nod to train and recruit more staff nurses to effectively manage ICU beds. The MCH has demanded the immediate deployment of 300 staff nurses to ensure quality care for the critically ill patients.
“We have been constantly writing to the state government to provide for more staff anticipating a surge in cases requiring critical care. But due to paucity of funds the authorities are yet to give us the nod for recruiting more staff. Now it is too late as cases are slowly exploding beyond limits in the district. Patients are suffering because of staff crunch. We are managing around 600 Category C patients and all of them have breathing issue. The government is not realising the gravity of the situation. People will die and the caseload is going to increase in the coming days,” said a senior official of MCH.
Lack of bystanders and shortage of cleaning staff are the other major crisis being faced by the MCH. “The authorities are unaware of the current situation and the patients have nobody to help and patients admitted to the ICU need round-the-clock assistance. Now, there is huge disparity in the staff-patient ratio and patients are going to suffer even more when we stretch the schedule of the staff. We have to change shifts every four hours and before Covid-19 we needed only four shifts now we have six shifts,” said the official of the MCH.
As per current statistics, 40 percent of the Covid deaths in the state is from the state capital. Unofficial statistics say over 300 Covid deaths have occurred in Thiruvananthapuram alone, but the state government has not declared half of them yet. “The MCH offered around 240 ICU beds exclusively for Covid-19 patients and promised to earmark more but now they are raising objection when the occupancy reached around 50 ICU beds,” said the official.However, an official of the district administration said there is absolutely no hurdle in recruiting more staff. However, the DMO said the MCH has many unused resources and should use those resources to tide over the crisis.
Police arrest 767 for Covid protocol violation; Kollam Rural fares worst
T’Puram: As many as 767 persons were arrested in the state on Tuesday over alleged Covid-19 protocol violations. A total of 1,401 cases were registered and 26 vehicles were seized. The police have also identified 5,990 persons who did not wear facemasks, while seven cases were registered for violating quarantine. Despite the significant rise in Covid cases, Kollam Rural saw the most number of violators with a total of 633 cases registered. Meanwhile, 125 cases were registered in the city limits. Thiruvananthapuram Rural recorded 206 cases, while the city reported 142 cases. Police said the patrolling and crackdown on violations will be intensified in the coming days.
CFLTCs with bigger capacity to be identified
T’Puram: The district administration has decided to strengthen its Covid containment efforts in the wake of increasing cases. Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Tuesday said the number of tests conducted will be increased and new First-Line Treatment Centres (FLTCs) with bigger capacity will be identified. He was speaking at an online review meeting in the district. At present, there are 24 functional FTLCs in the district. However, they can barely facilitate 100 patients. The minister has instructed officials to identify buildings that can house at least 300 people. “The situation is under control since we have adequate medical staff. I urge other medical practitioners to join the Covid brigade as well,” said the minister.