SAMBALPUR: Death of five patients at the Covid hospital in VIMSAR, Burla on Sunday has sparked panic over resurgence of the disease in the district though medical authorities attributed the fatalities to other reasons. In last 10 days, the Covid hospital has recorded at least 18 fatalities. The VIMSAR authorities claim that the actual cause of death is not Covid-19.
Many patients are coming to VIMSAR in a serious condition and with co-morbidities due to which they are succumbing during treatment, VIMSAR director Lalit Meher informed. Set up on October 12, the dedicated hospital at VIMSAR has, so far, reported 80 deaths. Most of the fatalities are patients above 55 with co-morbidities.
Moreover, patients coming for treatment of other diseases and testing positive for coronavirus are also being admitted to the Covid hospital. Hence, the number of deaths is increasing at VIMSAR, he added.
“All the five deceased were not from the district. Since dedicated Covid hospitals in many districts are now shut, the one at VIMSAR has become a referral facility. Due to convenience of shifting patients and in absence of restrictions, patients from Balangir, Kalahandi, Sundargarh, Sonepur, Jharsuguda and Bargarh districts are also being referred to the Covid hospital in VIMSAR,” the director explained.
Besides, critical patients are getting directly admitted to the ICU due to which beds are occupied most of the times. Some of those in the waiting list are perishing before intensive care can be provided.The Covid hospital at VIMSAR has 100 general and 20 ICU beds. As on Saturday, all the ICU beds are full while around 80 patients are undergoing treatment in general beds.