The shortage of beds in the intensive care unit is said to have increased deaths at Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences. A couple of patients who could not get beds in the ICU, even after their oxygen level dropped drastically, succumbed to COVID-19 on Wednesday. According to the bulletin issued by the administration, seven people died on the day.
The institute has 60 beds in the ICU and all of them are occupied. The patients suffering from low oxygen level were provided with medical oxygen. However, patients whose condition did not improve even after providing them with medical oxygen needed to be shifted to the ICU. “We could not shift them as there were no beds in the ICU. With the sudden fall in the oxygen patients are dying”, said a doctor with the institute. The beds in the ICU get vacant only if someone recovers or succumbs to the infection. "The patients are taking a long time to recover. There are some patients for nearly a week in the ICU,”, the doctor said. Many people, caretakers of patients, are seen pleading the staff in the institute for ICU facility.
Hassan district administration has decided to enhance the number of beds in the ICU by 40 more. The ventilators, which remained unutiliszed in taluk hospitals at Arsikere and Sakleshpur, are being shifted to HIMS.
Excise Minister K. Gopalaiah, in charge of Hassan, held a meeting with officers on measures necessary to contain the infection. A decision to increase the number of beds at HIMS from 400 to 550 had been taken. A proposal had been sent to set up another hospital at a cost of ₹7 crore. “All primary health centres will have oxygenated beds”, he said.
A COVID-19 care centre with 300 beds had been set up at SDM Ayurveda Hospital in Hassan. With this, the burden on HIMS would come down. The SDM Institute had agreed to provide more facilities to treat the patients, the Minister said.
Further, the Minister said he had instructed the officers to ensure the lockdown guidelines were implemented strictly. The officers had noticed the public roaming unnecessarily even after 10 a.m. The police had already seized 99 vehicles and they would take strict action to ensure lockdown was total, he added.
