Hero Image

'Nearly 90% of Covid beds in Ranchi occupied'

Ranchi: With over 3,000 cases in its tally and 2,075 active Covid-19 cases on Sunday morning, Ranchi has emerged as the coronavirus hotspot of the state. Despite the health department and the district administration making necessary arrangements to fight the pandemic and bring the infections under control, the number of cases is surging significantly.



Arrangements for 2,238 beds were made across different centres in the city but with the continuous surge since the last week, it seems that the facilities will not be adequate in the coming days.

A health department official said that, of the total beds, 1,950 — or nearly 90% — are occupied . The data provided by the district health authorities said the 2,238 beds were spread over two Dedicated Covid Hospitals (DCH), 20 Dedicated Covid Healthcare Centres (DCHC), 10 government-run Covid Care Centres (CCC), 16 private hospitals, five private hotels and banquet halls till August 7. However, with 804 fresh cases detected in the last four days, the authorities are exploring options to increase the number of beds.

Talking to TOI, civil surgeon Dr V B Prasad said: “Considering the surge of Covid-19 cases, we are planning to increase our bed capacity. A team has already inspected the isolation centre at the Sarla Birla University campus and we are planning to convert it as a DCHC.”

Meanwhile, the two DCHs — Rims and Paras HEC Hospital — which have a capacity of 170 and 50 beds are also staring at a shortage of beds. “The problem at Rims is that apart from the Covid-19 patients, many of our health workers are getting infected and we have accommodated them on the hospital campus so that they could resume their services after recovery,” said a senior member of the Rims Covid-19 task force.

Two other DCHCs at Military Hospital and CCL Hospital have a total capacity of 108 beds. The 10 CCCs, which included those at Khelgaon and R&R Colony, have a capacity of 1,393 beds while 373 beds are in 13 private hospitals, including Medica and Medanta. Another 139 beds are in four private hotels. “We are planning to increase the 740-bed CCC at Khelgaon to 1,500 beds and if required, it will be made functional within 24 hours,” Prasad added.

READ ON APP