Assam: Focus on district hospitals to strengthen Covid-19 fight

GUWAHATI: With the number of Covid-19 cases on the rise in Assam, the state may run out of beds to accommodate coronavirus patients.
Currently, 2,000 beds, mostly in the medical colleges and a few other hospitals in Guwahati, have been kept for Covid-19 patients. Sources said the health department is now now focussing on district and model hospitals, located in the rural parts of the state, to treat Covid patients locally.
"In Assam, there are over 700 active Covid patients.We have facilities to treat up to 2,000 patients. But, the way in which the number of case is rising in Assam, especially after entry of the migrant workers, the state government is now going to use a portion of the beds in the district and model hospitals for Covid-19 treatment," official sources in the state health department told TOI on Thursday.
Sources added, "The district hospitals, located in the respective district headquarters, as well as the model hospitals, are being readied to treat Covid-19 patients, if required. The process has started and their capacity will be increased further."
In Guwahati, apart from the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital, the TB Hospital at Kalapahar and the district hospital in Sonapur are being used for treating Covid-19 patients.
When contacted, director of medical education, Assam, Anup Kumar Barman, said, "Our strategy is to treat the Covid patients locally, especially those who just need observation. Since 90 per cent of the infected people are asymptomatic, those patients can be treated in the districts itself. Only those whose condition is serious or need special attention, may be brought to the medical college hospitals. That is why the government has started utilizing the district hospitals."
The Assam government in March had signed MoUs with 85 private hospitals to treat non-Covid cases and decided to bear the expenses for their treatment. Three leading government medical college and hospitals were dedicated exclusively for Covid-19 patients.