Three Chattogram hospitals crammed with COVID-19 patients
Three hospitals in Chattogram are overcrowded with COVID-19 patients, with no room at all for new patients, said the authorities in the specialised hospitals.
The hospital authorities have been informing new patients that they can be admitted to the hospitals only once beds are available.
Asim Kumar Nath, the superintendent of Chittagong General Hospital, known as 'COVID-19 Hospital', has expressed inability to admit new patients.
"If someone recovers and returns home, we will be able to admit new patients," he told Prothom Alo on Sunday.
To tackle the situation, the skin disease ward on the ground floor of Chittagong Medical College Hospital has been dedicated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, which was approved by the government yesterday. Patient admission in that ward will begin in the next 5 to 6 days. The ward has a capacity for maximum 100 patients.
Every day 70 to 80 new patients are being diagnosed with coronavirus in Chattogram city and other parts of the district. Last Saturday night, the number of patients in Chattogram increased by 67 rising the total number to 783.
The number of patients in Chattogram division is 1,616. Of these, 100 in Chattogram city and 305 in the division recovered and returned home. A total of 36 people died of the virus in Chattogram while 59 people died in the whole division. The rest of the patients are being treated at the hospital or at home.
At present, Dhaka and Narayanganj have the highest number of coronavirus patients next to Chattogram.
It is learned that, 315 coronavirus patients are officially being treated in Chattogram city and upazilas under the district. Of these, 110 patients are being treated at Chittagong General Hospital, 30 at Faujdarhat BITID Hospital and 50 at the Field Hospital. With the addition of Chittagong Medical College Hospital in the initiative, 415 COVID-19 patients will get medical treatment from next week.
If 60 percent of the patients are to be kept in the hospital, 388 beds are required altogether.
According to the World Health Organisation, 40 percent of coronavirus patients have mild symptoms. They can be cured at home. The remaining 60 percent have to be treated at the hospital.
About 10 percent of the patients may require ICU or ventilator. But Chittagong General Hospital has a total of 10 ICUs only while BITID and field hospitals do not have any ICU.
The number of patients after deaths and recovery stood at 647 till Sunday morning. If 60 percent of the patients are to be kept in the hospital, 388 beds are required. But there are only 315 beds in those three hospitals.
Chittagong General Hospital is the largest hospital for coronavirus patients in Chattogram. Almost all of the 110 beds in the hospital have been filled. This is the only hospital having ICU facilities.
Asim Kumar Nath told Prothom Alo, “Many government agencies, including the police, are contacting us to admit] new patients. But for now, we can only admit new patients when any patient is discharged.”
Similarly, physicians at Faujdarhat BITID and the Field Hospital said there were no vacancies. In this situation, families of new patients are waiting to admitting their dear ones in Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
Recommendations
Faisal Iqbal Chowdhury, general secretary of the Chattogram unit of the Bangladesh Medical Association, expressed concern and told Prothom Alo that the number of patients in Chittagong is increasing every day.
“If the ground floor of Chittagong Medical College Hospital is opened, a number of cases might be admitted for a day or two, but what happens next?” he added.
Faisal Iqbal said, “There are more than two thousand beds in six private medical colleges in the city. There are 20-22 ICUs. Corona patients should be treated by negotiating with private medical college hospitals. We do not have much time.”
AMM Minhaj Uddin, central organizing secretary of Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad (SWACHIP) and Swachip's coronavirus coordinator for Chattogram region, said COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 (with symptoms) patients are being treated together at the three designated hospitals.
“The unconfirmed cases can be treated in Chittagong Railway Hospital for now. The decision to increase the number of hospitals for COVID-19 patients should be made swiftly,” he added.
Plans
According to administration, a plan was taken to treat coronavirus patients in 12 more government and private hospitals in Chattogram. But no further decision has been taken after that.
Sheikh Fazle Rabbi, civil surgeon of Chattogram, told Prothom Alo, “Three hospitals in the city are full of corona patients. We got a ward of Chittagong Medical College Hospital. It is being prepared. We also want to start treating the patients in Chittagong Holy Crescent Hospital.”
The civil surgeon said there were plans to admit coronavirus patients to Chittagong Railway Hospital, Port and City Corporation Hospital in phases. "Then we will need private medical college hospitals,” he said, “However, a decision from the higher level of the government is needed to start using these hospitals.”
*This piece, originally published in Prothom Alo print edition, has been rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat