Bengaluru doctors at breaking point as COVID cases soar in Karnataka
Hospitals in Bengaluru are working with half capacity. At ACE Suhas hospital three batches of doctors have left their jobs and the housekeeping staff is also not willing to work. There has been a decline in non-covid patients visiting a Covid-designated hospital.
"We have seen attrition of 50% of our total staff due to fear of COVID and thus we have been providing extra insurance on top of the existing insurance and the increased salary. We have also seen a significant decrease of Non-Covid patients after we were listed as COVID Hospital and it has been a humongous challenge, especially for small and mid-sized private hospitals. We are also requesting the government to prepay the cost of treatment for COVID patients as it has become difficult to Manage day to operations," Dr Jagadish Hiremath CEO Ace Suhas Hospital said.
For the third day in a row, Karnataka reported the maximum number of Covid positive cases as it crossed 5,000 mark. With 5,007 patients testing positive on Friday the state's tally now stands at 85,870.
Out of the new cases, Bengaluru registered 2,267 cases. However, a major challenge for the state government is to improve the dismal recovery rate that stands at 36.25%.
Doctors treating Covid patients predict that the cases will rise in the coming months.
Dr Suriraju V, chief consultant urology and MD Regal hospital expects COVID19 count to mount in the coming months. One way to contain the spread of virus, he says, is for primary and secondary contacts of Covid positive patients along with the asymptomatic patient to adhere to strict isolation at home or at COVID Care centre,home quarantine of asymptomatic positive and suspected cases should be strongly enforced and followed.
"Yes, COVID cases are expected to rise. However, the recovery rate has also improved significantly over the months. Also, one of the most important things that needs to be taken into consideration is focusing on stopping cross infection in hospitals by separating Covid and non-Covid patients which is often difficult for small and medium size hospitals. However, COVID patients should be isolated strictly. There should be separate staff and COVID ward with no interaction whatsoever with the COVID section. Also, it has been found in several studies that there is a possibility of Covid transmission through faecal particles via common toilet. So Covid and non-Covid patients should have separate toilets at home and hospital,” he explained.
