With the hospitals in Chandigarh overwhelmed by patients as Covid-19 cases are rapidly increasing in the city, the UT Administration is roping in three CITCO hotels, James Hotel in Sector 17 and community centres for mild to moderate positive patients. Apart from this, the Administration has also sent a request to the Centre to procure more ventilators.
Till Wednesday evening, the city had reported a total of 1751 positive cases including 700 active cases.
Manoj Parida, Adviser to UT Administrator told The Pioneer, “Keeping in view the surge in COVID-19 cases, the Administration has geared up to rope in three CITCO hotels, James Hotel and community centres as COVID care centres for mild to moderate positive patients. Earlier also, hotels were listed as quarantine centres in the city.”
“In our COVID-19 contingency plan, James Plaza with 270 beds was included as COVID-care centre for confirmed asymptomatic and mild cases and it will be utilized accordingly. CITCO hotels and James Hotel will be provided on a payment basis to those patients who can afford. As far as community centres are concerned, we will utilize the community centres which are not surrounded by residential areas as COVID care centres considering the concerns raised by residents earlier,” he said.
It is planned that each COVID care centre will have at least one Ayush doctor and one allopathic doctor 24X7 in three shifts.
Parida further said, “The COVID-19 dedicated NHE, PGIMER is nearing full capacity as the critical care beds are also occupied by patients from other states. The Sector 48 Hospital can accommodate 100 critical patients and we are making arrangements for more facilities in existing healthcare centres for critical care.” The NHE, PGIMER is a 200-bedded treatment facility for critical COVID patients. The patients admitted in NHE belong to Chandigarh, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal and Uttar Pradesh.
More than 150 COVID-19 positive patients were undergoing treatment at NHE, PGIMER till the evening. The ICU beds are already occupied in the PGIMER. Apart from this, COVID patients were admitted in Sood Dharamshala, Dhanwantari Hospital, GMCH-32 and Sector 48 Hospital.
On the requirement of ventilators in the city, Parida said, we have requested the Health Ministry to procure more ventilators. The city with a population of over 12 lakh has around 250 ventilators. Of these, some are reserved for COVID patients while others are kept for critically-ill patients.
Notably, Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher had on Wednesday expressed concern over the surge of COVID cases and burden on existing healthcare infrastructure in the city. In a Tweet tagging PMO, Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Bandore, BJP president JP Nadda, Kirron Kher had said, “#HelpMyCity PGI & other hospitals are under immense pressure. If medical facilities are not allowed in various parts of the city there will be fatalities due to #nobeds. I urge the Administration to take necessary action (sic).”
Estimating Chandigarh’s population as 12 lakh and a peak of COVID-19 pandemic in the future, a COVID-19 contingency plan estimating preparations for management of about 3600 active cases of virus on the worst day of the spread in the city, had been prepared by UT Administration.
With continuous surge in the cases, the Administration is now estimating the city to reach 2500 positive cases in the next fortnight and putting in place arrangements considering the same. 700 cases have been reported in the month of August so far.
The Administration’s contingency plan has listed out a protocol to be followed for asymptomatic, mild cases and severe positive cases, quarantine centres, logistic support for patients, dedicated COVID- Hospital, dedicated Health centre for moderate cases, COVID care centre, testing facilities among other measures.
81 FRESH CASES IN CHANDIGARH
The union territory of Chandigarh continued to witness a surge in COVID-19 cases with 81 fresh infections reported on Wednesday. The total tally of positive cases crossed 1700-mark and stood at 1751 till the evening. There were 700 active cases in the city.
In the month of August till now, the city has reported 700 positive cases with the highest single-day spike of 89 cases reported on August 9.
“A 34 years old male, resident of Sector 21 who had committed suicide at home by hanging himself on August 19 was tested COVID-19 positive post death,” stated Chandigarh Health Department’s evening bulletin. “He was sampled after his demise for COVID-19 at GMSH-16. He was reported positive on August 11,” the bulletin stated.
The positive cases were reported from Sector 7, 10, 12, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 27, 23, 28, 30, 35, 32, 37, 43, 44, 45, 47, 49, Dadumajra, Hallomajra, Ramdarbar, Dhanas, PGIMER, Manimajra, Mauli Jagran and Raipur Khurd. Four healthcare workers and a student from PGIMER, six healthcare workers and a student from GMCH-32 were tested positive for COVID-19. Among others tested positive included an employee in BSNL Manimajra, an employee in Intelligence Bureau, an employee in Sector 39 Meteorological Department, a person with travel history of Punjab and contacts of already tested positive patients, according to the bulletin.
The recovery rate of COVID-19 patients was 58 percent in the city. With eight patients recovering from COVID-19 on Wednesday, the total recovered patients were 1023, the bulletin added. 19141 samples of city residents have been tested till date for COVID-19. The city has so far reported 26 COVID-19 related fatalities.