Covid situation dire in Sylhet
Eighty-year-old Lal Chan Bibi of Moulvibazar's Barlekha upazila was suffering from Covid-19 symptoms for the last couple of days.
On Friday, her family members rushed her to Sylhet city as her condition deteriorated.
However, they could not find any vacant ICU beds at 10 public and private hospitals in the city. Desperate, the family admitted her to Beanibazar upazila health complex on Saturday afternoon.
She died at 4pm, three hours after admission.
With no ICU bed available and most of the general beds at the Covid units of the division remaining full, the pandemic situation has become dire in the country's north-eastern division.
Moreover, almost all the patients from the four districts in the division are rushing towards Sylhet city, as the city hospitals are the only ones to offer dedicated and advanced healthcare.
For the last couple of weeks, Sylhet division is seeing new records of Covid-19 infection almost every day.
On Sunday, the single-day infection number touched almost 1,000 mark, breaking the previous record of 802 on Friday. A total of 996 people tested positive for coronavirus while nine died in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, a total of 853 people tested positive for coronavirus while 14 died in 24 hours till yesterday morning. With this, the total number of Covid cases in the division reached 41,305 while the death toll now stands at 716.
Compared to any other district except Dhaka, Sylhet has more ICU and general beds dedicated for Covid-19 patients.
So far, there are 34 ICU beds available in two public hospitals -- 16 at Sylhet Shahid Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital and 18 at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital.
Besides, Shamsuddin hospital has 84 general beds while Osmani hospital has 325 general beds, including 70 new beds (added on Sunday) for treating Covid-19 patients.
In addition, there are 120 ICU beds in the city's private hospitals and clinics along with 550 general beds.
But for the last couple of weeks, all the ICU beds and most of the general beds at the public and private hospitals remain occupied.
Dr Mijanur Rahman, resident medical officer of Shamsuddin hospital, the 100-bed dedicated Covid-19 hospital in Sylhet, said, "For the last one month, we are at capacity. Once we release someone or if someone dies, a seat becomes available, only to be filled up quickly."
Contacted, Dr Naseem Hossain, president of Sylhet Private Hospital Owners' Association, said, "We've almost tripled our services for Covid-19 patients. All the hospitals have at least 5 to 10 percent people on waiting lists."
"We are not able to increase our facilities as we are in uncertainty with the oxygen supply, which often gets delayed. Also, due to the expenses at private hospitals, many are unable to afford our services. We urge the government to increase facilities at public hospitals," he said.
Dr Himangshu Lal Roy, divisional health officer of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), said, "The infection rate in Sylhet is increasing fast. However, the rush to the hospital is not that much compared to the infection rate."
"But keeping the worst situation in mind, we're trying to increase beds for Covid-19 patients. But the only problem is uninterrupted oxygen supply," he said.
The health official said they are planning to install oxygen plants at Khadimpara 31-bed Hospital and Dakshin Surma 31-bed Hospital in this regard.
"We are also planning to set up an industrial-level oxygen plant in Sylhet so that we don't have to face any supply crisis," he said.
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