Fatalities have continued to mount in Mysuru district despite the district administration telling hospitals to strictly comply with the treatment protocols.
Five deaths have been reported on Wednesday, taking the toll to 1,093, which is second highest in the State after Bengaluru. All five are SARI patients and were suffering from breathlessness. All the deceased were aged above 55 years and a couple of them had no co-morbidities, according to the health bulletin.
Three deaths had been reported in private hospitals while two in the designated COVID-19 hospital. In the last six days, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of 23 persons in Mysuru, causing unease among the health authorities.
After Tuesday’s biggest spike of the year, the number of positive cases on Wednesday stood at 356, taking the active cases’ tally to 2,385. A whopping 492 cases on Tuesday shocked the health authorities despite claims about efforts being made to contain the spread. The cases are showing an upward trend irrespective of the night curfew.
Mysuruis carrying out nearly 6,000 swab tests daily. As many as 232 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours.
The COVID-19 tally is inching to cross the 60,000-mark with continuous spike in infections in the second wave. The cumulative positive cases’ tally stood at 59,421 on Wednesday and the total number of patients discharged so far stands at 55,943.
Meanwhile, the vaccination coverage in Mysuru district crossed the 4 lakh-mark on Wednesday. As many as 4,06,534 persons had been vaccinated in the district with more number of eligible populations thronging the vaccine sites for the shots. A total of 1,94,248 persons above 60 years of age had taken the jab until Wednesday.
Mysuru’s ICU beds are also filling up fast as 31 patients are currently being treated in the COVID-19 intensive care units (ICUs).
About 100 beds are available in ICUs of the government-run hospitals as well as in private hospitals in Mysuru. According to the Health Department, 31 beds have been occupied so far and about 69 beds are remaining.
Going by the current trend of infection growth and the number of deaths reported so far in April, more ICU beds may also get occupied in the coming days in case patients develop complications. All put together, around 500 beds in K.R. Hospital and 200 beds in district hospital have centralised oxygen supply.
Only 20 ventilators are available for COVID-19 patients in government hospitals and 20 new ventilators had been sought as part of scaling up infrastructure for COVID-19 management.
“We can create more ICU beds but we are severely short staffed since such wards need more caretakers. Unless we get the staff, we cannot enhance the ICU beds,” a senior health official said.
The number of patients in ICUs in other districts: Mandya (14), Kodagu (6), Chamarajnagar (5).
