Low occupancy at hosps as most have mild symptoms

Low occupancy at hosps as most have mild symptoms

09.01.2022

Chennai: Though the city’s active cases are shooting up, only14 % of the hospital beds at the tertiary hospitals are occupied.

In case of ICU beds in the five Covid-19 hospitals in the city, only 6% (58 beds) of the 1,090 available ICU beds in the five Covid-19 hospitals are occupied. Of the 3,747 available oxygen oxygen beds,18% (699 beds) are occupied.

Doctors say this shows majority of the patients have not required oxygen support or ICU admission. Dean of Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital Dr E Theranirajan said, 231 patients were seen with an S-Gene drop, but none of them required ICU admission. “Most of the ICU admissions still seem to be from the Delta variant,” he said.

The doctors have found the majority of the patients who needed hospitalisation and ICU admissions, were the unvaccinated. “Of the 17 patients in the RGGGH ICU, 11 are unvaccinated. We have put some in C-PAP ventilators, treating them with Rem- desivir. These patients are also aged above 60 and have comorbidities,” said Dr Theranirajan.

Similarly, Dean of Omandurar GH Dr R Jayanthi said out of the 10 patients in the hospital’s ICU, eight were unvaccinated.

With 92% of the city's population vaccinated for the first dose, and 72%for the second dose, the corporation urges the unvaccinated and those due for second dose, to get their shots early.

“In the discussions we had with doctors in the city, it is seen that people vaccinated with both doses and are 50 days beyond second dose date, are having much milder symptoms, as compared to patients, who are either unvaccinated or with single dose,” corporation commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi told TOI. He said people must get both doses so that they preferably get immune to Covid and in case they contact the virus, the symptoms are milder. “More than 8 lakh people are due for a second dose in the city. They must take it as soon as possible,” he said .