Don’t Rush COVID-19 Patients To Bhubaneswar Hospitals, Odisha Govt Tells Districts

Bhubaneswar: With COVID hospitals in Bhubaneswar overburdened with growing number of cases, the state government has asked district administrations not to rush their coronavirus patients to the city for treatment.

In a letter to senior officials in charge of COVID-19 management in Odisha, Development Commissioner Suresh Mohapatra said the available COVID-care facilities at the district level must be utilised to the fullest before referring a patient to the COVID hospitals in Bhubaneswar.

“The COVID hospitals of Bhubaneswar are being used by all other districts as referral hospitals. The facility available in the cluster district should be exhausted first before deciding to shift a case to Bhubaneswar. The medical officer of the district will inform the medical officer of the COVID hospitals of Bhubaneswar and obtain confirmation about the availability of the requisite facility needed before sending the patient to Bhubaneswar,” Mohapatra wrote.

Mohapatra further said, “The facility of home isolation needs to be promoted further and asymptomatic and very mild to mild symptomatic cases should invariably be allowed for home isolation. The COVID hospitals should only house moderate to severe symptomatic cases.”

With 4,613 active cases in Bhubaneswar and 2,213 cases in Cuttack city till Monday, the twin cities have now become COVID-19 hotspots while the hospitals in the two cities are struggling to admit new patients. With just six ICU beds left in COVID hospitals of Bhubaneswar, it remains a challenge.

What has made the COVID-19 situation in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack difficult is the rush of patients to the COVID hospitals there from other hotspot districts such as Puri, Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Kendrapara and Jajpur due to perceived better care and management.

In Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, just about 20 per cent of the beds are occupied by patients from both the cities while the rest have been taken over by people from other districts, Hindustan Times reported.

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