Bengal has issued multiple advisories on management of COVID-19 patients (File)
With 895 cases, West Bengal has reported the highest spike in new coronavirus cases in 24 hours. There have been 21 deaths in the last 24 hours. State capital Kolkata too peaked at 244 new cases. On Saturday, the state had reported 743 new cases. Besides Kolkata, worst hit are north and south 24 Parganas district - large areas in these two districts are part of greater Kolkata.
In just 5 days of July, 3,567 cases have been reported in the state. Of those, 1,187 were in Kolkata. 89 COVID-19 positive people have died in Bengal, 39 of those in Kolkata.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has said in recent press meets that the Kolkata numbers are high because patients are being referred from the districts to hospitals in Kolkata.
The state government has issued multiple advisories on management of COVID-19 patients. The state has warned against indiscriminate use of antibiotics, particularly for older people.
Prone awake ventilation should be attempted before the patient is put on conventional mechanical ventilation.
The advisories recommend better record keeping of Bed Head Ticket oxygen management and warn against hospital acquired infections.
Bed availability with ICU support is also a concern.
Bengal has 10,600 COVID-19 beds in government hospitals and 8,018 are vacant. So 75 per cent beds in government hospitals are vacant or occupancy is about 25 per cent.
But private hospitals tell a different story. There are 1,138 beds in private hospitals. Only 107 (9.4%) are vacant. The occupancy is 90 per cent which basically says patients are rushing to private hospitals.
The state has just 948 ICU beds in COVID-19 hospitals and 395 ventilators.
The number of ICU beds or ventilators in private hospitals and in government hospitals was not mentioned in the data shared by the state government.