KATHMANDU, August 11: The number of critically ill patients at COVID Hospital in the Valley has increased after cases started going up since the last two consecutive weeks.

Dr Niraj Bam, Respiratory and Chest Specialist of TU Teaching Hospital, said that the ICUs and HDUs have been filled with COVID infected with severe symptoms since the last four to five days. The 40-bed ICU, 30 ventilators and 10 HDUs in this hospital are all filled with patients. 90 people have been admitted to the general ward. "The number of sick patients has skyrocketed since last week," he said.

For the past few days, the hospital has been overcrowded due to patients coming from neighboring and Terai districts from referral and for self-admission in search of safety. Dr Bam said that patients are coming from Dhading, Rasuwa, Nuwakot, Sindhupalchowk, Dolakha, Solukhumbu, Makwanpur, Rautahat, Bara, Dhanusha, Parsa and Gorkha districts near Kathmandu. All of these patients need to be given oxygen. “Other wards are being converted into COVID wards as the number of patients is increasing,” he informed.

The number of COVID patients admitted to Bir Hospital for the last four/five days and the number of COVID patients getting admitted and people undergoing treatment in the OPD has also increased, Hospital’s Physician Dr Dhurba Gaire said.

According to him, most of the patients are from Kathmandu Valley. He said that 10 to 15 patients are being admitted daily. The pressure of the patient seen in the hospital for a few days indicates that the third wave has started, Gaire explained. The ICU room of Bir Hospital has never been vacated, Administrative Head Dr Bhupendra Basnet said.

The hospital currently has 100 general beds, 40 ICUs and 44 HDU beds. 100 beds will be added within a week and 500 beds will be brought into operation within the next two weeks, Basnet informed. "Now, the patients who arrive in Bir Hospital will not have to return without getting a bed," he said.

According to the Patan Academy of Health Sciences, the number of patients coming to the hospital has also increased due to the increase in COVID infection. Director of the Hospital, Dr Ravi Shakya said that 25 to 30 patients come for admission daily. As many as 250 COVID-infected people have been admitted to the general ward in Patan till Tuesday. The hospital has 273 beds in the general ward.

“Looking at the flow of patients in the outpatient department now, there are indications that the infection will increase in the valley,” Shakya explained.

 
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