THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though the district authorities have opened more CFLTCs (Covid-19 First-Line Treatment Centre) and Second-line Treatment Centre (SLTCs) the steady increase in caseload is paving way for a huge crisis. As of Sunday, almost 71 per cent of ICU beds and 54 per cent of ventilators have been occupied. On Tuesday, 1,490 fresh cases were reported in the capital, taking the total number of people under treatment to 7,701. An official at the district medical office said almost every hospital is full.
“We have to simultaneously handle both covid and non-Covid cases at hospitals and hence, it is impossible to earmark all the facilities for Covid patients. We will be in deep crisis if the daily cases keep going up. We have directed private hospitals to allot 20 per cent of their beds for Covid care. When we run out of beds, people might have to depend on private hospitals,” said the official.
In the wake of increasing caseload and occupancy at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital and General Hospital, the district authorities have decided to decentralise Covid care by opening Covid-19 treatment facility at Neyyattinkara Taluk Hospital, Peroorkada Hospital and Nedumangad hospital. These centres operate under the district panchayat. As part of the containment strategy, the district would conduct mass testing drives this week and more cases are likely to be detected.
Decentralisation is the only way
District panchayat president D Suresh Kumar said the district panchayat will cover the expense to manage Covid-19 patients at hospitals. “The beds are filling up fast at the MCH and we need to decentralise Covid care to avoid concentration of patients in a particular hospital. We have decided to utilise `50 lakh that we received as cash prize with the Deen Dayal Upadhyay national award for best district panchayat during 2019-20 for this purpose. We will provide PPE kits for health care workers and supply food to patients. As many as 76 beds have been made available at other hospitals,” said Suresh.
According to local body representatives, the government is yet to settle the pending dues during the first wave. The city corporation had operated several CFLTCs to manage last year’s crisis. A senior official of the civic body said more facilities need to be opened again now. On Monday, more than 600 of the total 980 cases were reported were from the corporation limits.