IGMC Covid ward packed to capacity after spurt in cases

Subhash Rajta

Tribune news service

Shimla, November 9

As if the sharp spike in Covid-19 cases in the state wasn’t worrying enough, here’s another bad news – the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMC) Covid ward has become packed to capacity with coronavirus patients. Anyone needing hospitalisation at the moment will get admission only if someone is discharged/dead or the hospital makes alternative arrangements to accommodate more patients.

“We have 85 patients at present and that’s the maximum we can accommodate,” said IGMC Principal Dr Rajnish Pathania. “We are running full since Sunday, following the recent spike in cases. We could try vacating other wards in case there are more patients, but where would the patients from those wards go?” he added.

The situation in Deen Dayal Upadhyay (DDU) Hospital, a designated Covid-19 hospital, is slightly better, but not comforting. On Monday evening, the hospital had 64 out of the total 90 beds occupied, with 30 patients on oxygen. Worryingly, at the IGMC, the number of patients on oxygen is 70 to 75.

The scariest stage of the pandemic is when it overwhelms the medical facilities. And the state’s premier hospital, where generally critical patients are admitted or referred to, seems to have hit that stage.

How does the IGMC plan to handle the grim situation? Pathania says, “The work on the 18-bed makeshift Covid hospital on the IGMC premises has started, but it will take another 15 to 20 days,” said Dr Pathania. Besides, the government is building five makeshift hospitals in the state, including one in Shimla. The plan was to have them functional by November-end, but the one proposed in Shimla seems to have run into rough weather with taxi operators and shopkeepers operating at the site raising objections.

With the region going through the wedding season and Covid protocols being ignored during functions, the load on the hospital is likely to increase in the coming days.

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