Weekly Covid deaths plummet, few patients in Kolkata hospitals

KOLKATA: At least one large private hospital in the city now has no Covid patient - the first time since March, since the third wave started waning - even as several others have been seeing Covid patients in the low single-digits.
This observed fall in the number of serious patients coincides with a steep fall in the Covid death toll over two consecutive weeks of August.
Peerless Hospital discharged its lone Covid patient on Thursday morning; Manipal Hospital is left with just one, who could be released by Sunday. Several other hospitals have less than five patients. Since the third wave started waning, most private hospitals have shut their Covid wards, while a few have kept some critical care and general beds reserved for Covid patients. Some hospitals are contemplating further reducing their Covid beds.
Taken together with the fall in the number of reported Covid fatalities, some experts are seeing this as an indication of the current surge coming to an end. In the week between August 5 and August 11, Bengal had seen 30 pandemic deaths. This number fell to 16 the subsequent week.
"We should see a nose-dive in fatalities. Positivity has dropped below 5%, in an indication of the surge coming to an end," said a health official.
There were 15 deaths in June, but the toll started climbing from July. The first 10 days of July saw 24 deaths. The count doubled in the next 10 days and rose over the next 10, before the decline began during the first 10 days of August.
A falling death count indicated that we "have reached the tail-end of the surge," said Raja Dhar, director of pulmonology, CMRI Hospital.
But experts said they advised people to remember that the virus had not gone away. Masking, especially in crowded places, was an absolute must, as were other Covid-appropriate behaviours.
Several private hospitals in the city reported they were planning to alter their Covid response. Peerless still has 10 Covid beds.
"Now that we have no patient admitted, a reduction in beds is imminent," said CEO Sudipta Mitra.
Arindam Banerjee, director, Manipal Hospital, also said that they plan to reduce beds.
Charnock Hospital, that has seen its Covid admissions drop steadily over the last two months, is left with just two patients and has 10 beds reserved.
RN Tagore International International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) has 10 Covid patients admitted in a general ward, but none in critical care. AMRI Hospitals have 45 Covid patients across its three units that have a total of 60 beds. "Once the number drops further, there could be a reduction in Covid beds," said AMRI CEO Rupak Barua.