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
