Second wave: With rise in Covid deaths, Mohali’s private hospitals directed to ramp up bed capacity

The Mohali district administration on Tuesday directed all the L-2 and L-3 hospitals to increase the capacity of beds to accommodate the COVID-19 patients.

The L1 facility created at Gharuan earlier during the breakout of the pandemic was also revived to isolate patients who did not have requisite space for home quarantine.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (General) Aashika Jain held a meeting with the representatives of all the leading hospitals in the district, including Fortis, Max, Indus, IVY, Mayo, Gracian, Amar, Amcare, Mehar, Shalby, Ace Heart and Vascular Institute and Sohana Hospital.

“The recent spurt in COVID cases prompts us to gear up for managing the increasing number of patients,” the ADC said, adding that a strategy was in place and the public and private hospitals will work in tandem for treatment of COVID patients.

The ADC said that the district administration directed the hospitals to ramp up Level 2 and 3 bed capacity and postpone elective surgeries as far as possible to dedicate requisite resources towards treatment of COVID patients.

According to the ADC, the hospital administrations have also been told to update the health status of critical patients daily so that all available resources may be pooled in to contain the case fatality rate (CFR). They had been suggested to take assistance and advice from Dr K K Talwar, Advisor (Health), Punjab, by joining him through a video conference slated for 7:30 pm daily if the need be.

The ADC added that she directed the hospitals to avoid overcharging and adhere strictly to the designated rates. They have also been told to update the occupancy and vacancy numbers of L2 and L3 beds, including ICUs and ventilators, to the District Nodal Officer on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, the district and sub-divisional government hospitals and community health centre have also been directed to create room for L2 patients.

4 deaths, 192 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday

Four more Covid-related deaths were reported in Mohali on Tuesday, increasing the death toll to 407. As many as 192 new positive cases were also reported during the day, bringing the tally of cases to 22,218. There are 1,443 active cases in the district at present.

Deputy Commissioner (DC) Girish Dayalan said that 83 patients recovered from the infection and were discharged from hospitals and home isolation. He added that a total of 20,368 patients have been cured so far.

He further said of 192 cases, a maximum of 178 were reported from Mohali (Urban), 10 from Dhakoli, two from Kharar and one each from Boothgarh and Lalru, respectively.

The details regarding the co-morbidities and age of the deceased patients were not disclosed by the administration.

Chandigarh: 147 new positive cases in UT, 1,199 remain active

Chandigarh on Tuesday reported 147 new cases and one death, taking the total tally of cases to 23,391 and the toll to 359.

The total number of active cases was 1,199. While 73 men tested positive, the number of women who were COVID positive was 74. As many as 1,912 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the total number of samples tested so far was 2,82,157.

As many as 113 people were discharged from various facilities.

A 34-year-old COVID positive woman, resident of Sector 38, a case of pulmonary tuberculosis and systemic lupus erythematosus, expired at GMCH-32.

As per the latest available data, 19,488 out of every 10 lakh people in Chandigarh have tested positive for the virus. The active ratio is 4.5 per cent. For every 100 confirmed cases, four are currently infected. The case fatality ratio is 1.6 per cent. For every 10 lakh people in Chandigarh, 2,34,864 samples were tested. The average growth rate is 0.5 per cent; in the last one week, the number of new infections has grown by an average of 0.5 per cent every day. The recovery ratio is 94 per cent. For every 100 confirmed cases, 94 have recovered from the virus.

COVID VACCINATION: As per the ongoing COVID-19 vaccination drive, as many as 204 people in the age group of 46-60 years with co-morbidities received the first dose of the vaccine on March 16 while 1,336 senior citizens were inoculated on Tuesday. In all, since March 1, 20,413 people in the age group of 60 and above have been vaccinated, and the number for 46-60 years is 2,264. Till now, as many as 13,455 healthcare workers have been vaccinated with the first dose and 13,171 frontline workers have received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine.

Punjab miniter gets vaccinated at PGI

“There is unnecessary phobia around the vaccination. The process is so simple and like any other vaccination, it takes only two minutes,” stated Aruna Chaudhary, Cabinet Minister, Punjab, who was administered Covishield at the vaccination centre at PGIMER. “Staff members at the vaccination centres have the dual responsibility of not only vaccinating people who are walking in, but also giving them a good experience so that they motivate others to join the drive. The vaccination centre at PGIMER is a role model in this regard.” Chaudhary, who has the charge of Social Security and Women and Child Development in the Government of Punjab, urged others to opt for the vaccine. ENS