Pune: Over 7000 Isolation Beds for COVID Patients Unused But Ventilator Crisis Advancing
Mehab Qureshi
Pune, August 30, 2020: With hundreds of Coronavirus disease (COVID19) patients home quarantined, almost 7,330 hospital beds in the city have remained unused, claims Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). However, the number of active COVID19 patients in the city continues to grow with 15,000 active patients and 2246 patients with mild symptoms kept in home isolation.
The civic body started COVID care centres in July, and 1576 patients with mild symptoms were kept in institutional quarantine. It has come to light that almost all patients with mild symptoms go into home isolation, resulting in unused 7330 isolation beds.
On the other hand, while the beds in the COVID Care Centers are empty, there is still a shortage of ventilators. There are currently 500 ventilators, none of which are empty. The number of ICU beds without ventilators is 360, with 320 patients receiving treatment. Two weeks ago, the administration closed eight COVID care centres. Some more will be closed, and those patients will be shifted to Jumbo COVID Hospital.
