Dip In Cases Eases Drug, Oxygen & Bed Shortage

CITY BREATHES EASY, COIMBATORE STRUGGLES

Dip In Cases Eases Drug, Oxygen & Bed Shortage

Komal Gautham & Ram Sundaram TNN

27.05.2021 

TOI: Chennai Edition 

As Covid-19 cases drop in Chennai, bed and drug availability has improved compared to two weeks ago. Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), however, says the situation is only better, but not yet comfortable.

Dr P Ganeshkumar, epidemiologist, National institute of Epidemiology, said, “The percentage change in incidence and the test positivity rate is going in the negative now. This shows that there may be a limited spread of infection. We have also seen that the age-specific death rate is also reducing.

Since May 10, the state government has added more than 3,500 oxygen-supported and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds in Chennai. As of Tuesday evening, around 10% of the total 9,851 such beds in the city were vacant. The vacancy was 3% in the first week of May.

"The demand for oxygen beds has come down, but ICU beds are still not available easily because of the prolonged treatment of critically ill patients," said T N Ravishankar, head of a private hospital in Chennai.

As far as oxygen demand is concerned, waiting time at the Gummidipoondi refilling station has reduced from 15 hours to four or five hours now, he said.

E Therani Rajan, dean of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), said, "The waiting time for a bed has come down but we still have 1,678 patients in ICU and with fresh cases being reported every day, there is not much reprieve. Only when the fresh cases go below 2,000, will the availability of beds stop being an issue."

As far as drug availability was concerned, Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) authorities said they have adequate stock of tocilizumab for critically ill patients at government hospitals and around 120 vials are sold to private hospitals every day at ₹33,956 per vial.

"Remdesivir is now sold only online and we are expecting 5,000 vials of Amphotericin B from Mylan labs in Hosur to treat mucormycosis (black fungus) patients," said a TNMSC official.

GCC commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said, “We still haven't won the war. We need to vaccinate more people. Our focus is now to vaccinate newspaper vendors, autorickshaw drivers, EB staff, workers in the e-commerce sector, workers from industries, street vendors, construction workers and employees of essential industries."

Apart from that, we are still in touch with all the apartment complexes, residential welfare associations and disabled people to vaccinate them as soon as possible, he said.

Daily fresh cases in zones such as Valasaravakkam, Adyar, Kodambakkam and Anna Nagar have seen a huge dip in the past two weeks. And all this is happening when the testing numbers are the same, which is a good sign.

Alby John, GCC deputy commissioner, health, said they are focusing on early surveillance and to do so they have asked private hospitals and clinics to report all fever and other symptomatic cases to the civic body. “We will continue to add beds and ramp up the measures,” said Alby.