Our Correspondent :
Rajshahi Medical College Hospital has been running out of beds and high-flow oxygen facilities due to pressure of Covid-19 patients, sources said.
The 1,200-bed hospital that has a central oxygen supply in all its 42 wards, dedicated 250 beds of six coronavirus wards where high-flow oxygen can be ensured, they said.
But all the six coronavirus wards became full with Covid-19 positive and suspected patients in the last ten days till Saturday.
The hospital authorities have stored around 450 oxygen cylinders for dealing with an emergency and are preparing to add another ward of 29 beds for coronavirus treatment.
The ICU of the hospital that has 15 beds. It also requires more beds and ventilators, as officials say at least 30 patients are kept in waiting for getting an ICU bed.
The hospital officials said they sought from the health department at least 30 doctors from upazila level hospitals to deal with the situation.
The hospital authority earlier asked the administration to imposing strict lockdown to improve the situation.
UNB adds: At least eight Covid patients have died in the past 24 hours at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital (RMCH), health officials said on Saturday.
This is a steep fall from Friday’s highest single-day death toll of 16. However, the daily infection rate has surged past 51 percent in the district.
Hospital Director Brigadier General Shamim Yazdani said that of the deceased, four were Covid-19 positive patients while four others showed symptoms of the virus.
“Of the deceased, five were from Chapainawabganj district, while the remaining three belonged to Rajshahi district,” he said. With the fresh deaths, the district’s fatality count has reached 101 since May 24. Of them, 60 were confirmed Covid patients.
Meanwhile, the health authorities have detected 131 new cases after testing 256 samples in the past 24 hours in the district.
To stem the spread of coronavirus, the local administration has already enforced night time lockdown from 7 pm to 6 am.
It may also be mentioned here that authorities in many other districts have imposed strict restrictions for a week to contain the spread of Covid.
This was after the government recently empowered the district authorities to take a call on lockdown restrictions in their respective areas.
