Second Covid-19 wave triggers calls for admissions in hospitals

Bengaluru: In an alarming development, hospitals are receiving more and more desperate calls from Covid-19 patients for admission. On Thursday, Karnataka recorded 2,523 Covid cases and 10 deaths and the positivity rate stood at 2.32%.

Dr. Suri Raju. V, Chief Urologist at Regal Hospital said that six Covid patients were admitted at his hospital.

Regal has reserved 10 beds for Covid patients.

Dr. Jagadish Hiremath, Director of Ace Suhas Multi Speciality Hospital said that his hospital is receiving a minimum of 2-3 calls daily.

He said that since 50% of the peak of the first wave in the total number of Covid cases has been crossed, one can say that the second wave has begun already.

Bengaluru has 15,999 cases and according to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) war room data the city has 22 containment zones.

Dr C R Jayanthi, Director, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMRCI) said that unlike last time when the institute was Covid designated this time non-Covid procedures will be attended simultaneously.

"We are doing a hundred procedures daily. One has to see the kind of queue before the OPD. So non Covid patients will be attended. We will not go back to being a Covid designated hospital. We have 160 beds in the Trauma Care Centre and if a need arises the numbers will be increased in the other block," she told The Hans India.

However, Jayanthi opined that she would see the trend of the Covid cases till April 5 and would then be in a position to comment if the second wave has started.

Moreover, the post-graduate medical students at BMCRI had declared they would stop attending the Covid patients from March 22. On March 19, the PG students admitted under Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) requested the Dean to deploy them for non-Covid care.

It is learnt that the issue will now be sorted by the government.