SAMBALPUR: With COVID cases rising in the district, ICU beds in the only functional COVID Hospital on the premises of Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Sciences And Research (VIMSAR), Burla, became functional from Wednesday.
Reportedly, the COVID Hospital - I on the premises of VIMSAR was reopened earlier on June 18 this year anticipating a probable spike in cases as the numbers were surging in some places of the state.
In the first phase only 10 beds on one floor of the hospital were made functional. However, recently, acting on the COVID guidelines, the hospital authorities have increased the number of beds to 30. Moreover, the ICU lying defunct has now been restored and 10 beds made functional.
Superintendent of VIMSAR, Lal Mohan Nayak said, "The ICU had developed some technical problem due to which it was lying defunct. However, it has been restored on Monday and is now functional. We are now able to maintain the adequate number of beds as per the government order."
The situation is under control but adequate arrangements are in place to increase the number of beds in the existing COVID hospital if required. As on Wednesday, there are only six patients in the hospital including two in the ICU, he added. In last one week, Sambalpur has reported 123 COVID cases including 30 on Wednesday.
While there are 35 active cases in the district, so far, 42,682 COVID-19 positive cases have been reported, of which 42,147 persons recovered. The district has also reported 247 deaths due to the virus.
Chief District Medical Officer (CDMO), Sambalpur, Pankaj Patel said, "As of now there are no plans to reopen another COVID hospital. Also, the one on the premises of DHH will not be resumed any time soon as the general patient care will be hampered. However, one of the private COVID hospitals will resume operations shortly."