Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jul 6: As the number of coronavirus infected patients has come down drastically, presently, 88 per cent of beds earmarked for such patients have fallen vacant.

Right from May 18, with the number of new cases becoming less and less, the trend of the number of patients getting healed is increasing. At one point, the number of active cases in the state had reached six lac. As of Monday, there were 44,846 coronavirus patients in the state, with 5,349 patients being treated in hospitals. 914 among them are in the intensive care units and 28,556 in Covid Care Centres.

Representational image

In government and private hospitals of the state, 42,514 beds had been reserved for Covid-19 patients. In Covid Care Centres, out of 71,525 beds, 42,969 beds are unoccupied. 60 per cent of the beds in Covid Care Centres are lying unutilised. Bengaluru city, where once 25,000 new infections were reported, also has many beds vacant in hospitals and Covid Care Centres.

The hospitals, in view of the fact that many beds are lying idle, have requested the government to hand over these beds to them. This request is under consideration.

Currently, Covid-19 patients are not being referred to private hospitals. Dr H M Prasanna, president of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Union, said that the government is yet to release the beds reserved for Covid patients. He said that because of the Covid situation, many surgeries were kept pending and that these surgeries are now being taken up on priority. He said that delayed decision on the part of the government about release of beds creates problems for the patients.