Covid-19 patients requiring ICU care rising in Ahmedabad, Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: The official website of Ahmedabad Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (AHNA) on Sunday evening displayed that out of 362 total ICU beds in 63 Covid-19 designated private hospitals in the city, 218 were occupied and 144 were vacant, giving the occupancy rate of 60%. However, the occupancy rate was 70.6% for the ICU beds with ventilators at 86 out of 122 available beds.
Since the beginning of the month, the average daily positive cases for Ahmedabad district is 153.However, comparatively the number of patients requiring ICU care is on the rise, said city-based experts. AHNA officials pointed at top four hospitals for Covid-19 care with ICU with ventilator capacity of 40. From July 27 to 31, the daily occupancy out of 40 was 34 to 36.

Dr Bharat Gadhvi, president of AHNA, said that compared to the beginning of private hospital care for Covid-19 patients, the overall number of patients and patients requiring ICU facility have increased steadily. “Some of the patients require longer ICU stay before they get stabilized and they can be shifted to general ward. On the positive side, due to new treatment protocols, the mortality rate has gone down for the critical patients,” he said.
The trend is also reflected in official state health department statistics of patients on ventilators – according to the daily Covid-19 bulletin figures, average daily positive patients on ventilators have increased from 46 in May to 65 in June to 72 in July to 81 in first nine days of August.