Telangana plays musical chairs with Covid beds

Hyderabad: The state health department is playing musical chairs. Or so it appears if one goes by the ‘Covid-19 hospital bed availability status report’, its supposedly ‘live’ and updated website.

This website can be accessed by clicking on https://health.telangana.gov.in/ and then the link on ‘Bed Availability Status’.

While the available bed strength numbers under various categories such as oxygen beds, ventilator/CPAP beds, or regular beds, is expected to be changed as these numbers could indeed by dynamic, the health department appears to be completely befuddled by its own numbers, and completely at a loss at coming to a conclusion as to just how many beds have been set aside for Covid-19 patients.

Deccan Chronicle kept a track from noon till 6 pm on Monday on the bed availability status report and found that as the hour of the day changed, so did the total Covid-19 beds.  Also changing during the day were the total number of beds in the different categories.

It may be recalled that the health department had said a few days ago that it was moving to an online system where people in search for beds in hospitals, both private and government, for Covid-19 patients can check their availability.

The department had also ordered that every hospital must have a display board at its entrance with information on bed strength and availability.

Though the numbers of available beds in different categories changes often on the website, in many cases, once a person expands either the private or government hospital link, it can be found that even the hospital wise updates, in many cases, are hours old and are of no practical use to anyone.

For instance, at 7 pm on Monday, the bed status at Gandhi Hospital was that 8.38 a.m., while in the case of King Koti hospital it was 7.47 a.m., for Chest Hospital it was 4.31 p.m., for NIMS it was 2.59 p.m., while for Osmania, it 6.35 p.m.

Infograph

The number game

Hospital beds or random numbers?

Time*   Beds      ICU/CPAP/          Oxygen                Regular

                                Ventilator           

12.05 pm              53,770   11,271                   20,723   21,776

1.05 pm                47,660   10,592                   18,444   18,624

2.05 pm                 53,685 11,281                   20,626   21,778

3.05 pm                 51,716 11,069                   20,049   20,598

3.30 pm                 53,695 11,282                   20,636   21,777

4.05 pm                 53,726 11,281                   20,639   21,806

5.05 pm                 53,715 11,284                   20,654   21,777

6.05 pm                 53,723 11,288                   20,657   21,778

*On Monday, May 10