Around 77 percent hospital beds designated for coronavirus patients have become vacant across the country as the infection rate of the deadly pathogen has been declining for the last few weeks.
The health and family welfare ministry is mulling over opening some Covid-19 dedicated beds as well as coronavirus units at various hospitals for general patients.
Talking to the Daily Sun, Dr Md Farid Hossain Miah, Director (Hospital) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said, “We have already asked some hospitals to take preparation to admit non-covid patients in the beds dedicated for the Covid-19 patients.”
Mentioning that a number of beds designated for corona patients have been lying vacant due to lack of patients, he said the Covid-19 dedicated hospitals will continue admitting the patients while general hospitals that opened corona units, will restart admitting the non-covid patients.
Some hospitals, including Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Mugda Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology, National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital and National Institute of Traumatology & Orthopaedic Rehabilitaion (NITOR), in the capital.
According to the DGHS data on September 6, there are 16,429 general beds and 1,298 ICU (intensive care unit) beds for Covid-19 patients in public and private hospitals across the country, including in Dhaka.
Around 77 percent or 12,658 general beds and 688 ICU beds have remained vacant as a total of 3,771 Covid-19 patients were admitted to general beds and 610 were in ICU beds across the country.
The DGHS data said some 114 general beds and five ICU beds have remained vacant out of the total 169 general beds and 26 ICU beds in Covid-19 dedicated Kuwait-Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital, some 60 general beds and zero ICU bed are vacant out of total 275 general beds and 10 ICU beds in Kurmitola General Hospital, 432 general beds and zero ICU beds are vacant out of a total of 845 general beds and 20 ICU beds in Dhaka Medical College Hospital (unit 2) and burn unit of the hospital.
“If the corona units of public hospitals where beds are vacant are opened for general patients immediately, then many patients can get treatment,” said a physician at the Suhrawardy hospital.
The coronavirus infection and fatalities have been declining day by day across the country, including in Dhaka, as the single-day infection rate has remained below 10 percent in three consecutive days.
The DGHS data said 65 coronavirus infected patients died and 2,710 infection cases were detected in the last 24 hours till 8:00am on Monday.
Also, the positivity rate has been reported 9.82 percent in the last 24 hours while it was 9.66 percent on Sunday and 9.88 percent on Saturday.
The number of total infections has risen to 15,17,166 with a daily positivity rate of 9.82 percent while the overall infection rate has declined to 16.69 percent.
However, around 10 percent coronavirus infection rate reported for the last few days is the lowest in around three months in the country.
Earlier on June 7, the health officials reported 11.47 percent positivity rate followed by an alarming rise in infections which reached its peak at 32.55 percent on July 24.
Besides, the national death toll has increased to 26,628 with a case fatality rate of 1.76 percent. The number of single-day death remains below hundred for 10 consecutive days in the country.
The DGHS said the coronavirus situation is worst in the capital as the highest corona deaths and infections were registered in Dhaka division in the last 24 hours.
A total of 27,595 samples, out of 27,842 collected, were tested at 797 labs in the country during the period. With this, 90,91,610 samples have so far been tested across the country.
