DRDO Covid hospital brings respite, improves bed statistics in other hosps

Varanasi: With the Pandit Rajan Mishra Covid-19 hospital set up by the DRDO becoming operational at the Amphitheatre ground of Banaras Hindu University on Monday evening, pressure on many hospitals, especially those running Level-2 Covid-19 facilities in the city, has reduced tremendously.
While compulsion of referral for admission in divisional and district hospitals was ended, hue and cry for ICU beds also reduced massively.
As per the the morning report on bed availability at L-3 and L-2 facilities of the government and private hospitals, a total of 33 patients were admitted to DRDO’s hospital by Tuesday morning. Talking to TOI, the district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said that critical Covid patients, who needed ventilator and other ICU facilities, are being admitted to DRDO’s hospital on being referred from government and private hospitals of Varanasi and adjoining districts.
Apart from carrying their prescription and referral letter of hospital, the patients or their attendants are required to get confirmation for admission from Integrated Covid Command and Control Centre and also DRDO hospital by forwarding details on their WhatsApp numbers- 7307413510 and 7307015441 respectively. The patients should get discharged from the hospital, where he or she is admitted, only after getting confirmation for admission from DRDO hospital.
Beginning of DRDO’s facility has changed the statics of vacant and occupied beds in L-3 and L-2 facilities of eight government and 51 private hospitals. Of 441 beds in L-3 facilities of BHU’s super speciality hospital and DRDO hospital 230 were vacant on Tuesday morning while of 592 L-2 beds as many as 183 were vacant. In private hospitals 80 of 313 in L-3 facility and 574 of 1,665 beds in L-2 facility were vacant.
While the pressure had started reducing on the hospitals, especially, with L-2 facilities is past one week with the decrease in the new Covid-19 positive cases, the DRDO facility has brought respite mainly to the government hospitals, said the officials.
Now, the compulsion of referral from any doctor or hospital for admission at L-2 facilities of SPG divisional and DDU district hospitals has been ended, said the DM adding that now patients can directly go to these facilities to get admitted and treatment. Similar facility will be available for non-Covid patients, he added.
More relief was announced by the UP minister Neelkanth Tiwari that now patients can also reach these two hospitals for admission even in the night hours.