Kolkata: 2020 in mind, hospitals keep infrastructure ready for post-festival Covid case spur – Times of India

KOLKATA: Even as daily Covid-19 positive cases have been hovering around the 700 mark for almost two months now, Kolkata is already seeing a slight uptick in caseload. Doctors apprehend a sharper spike as the city gets closer to celebrating its biggest festival. Hospitals across the city have started gearing up to tackle patient rush in case of such a surge.
“Last year, Covid-positive cases started escalating days ahead of Durga Puja and it swelled post the festival. We apprehend similar situation again. Hence, we are ramping up our preparedness, including stocking up on essential medicines, consumables and RT-PCR test kits,” said Peerless Hospital CEO Sudipta Mitra.

Last year, from 2,000-plus daily cases across the state, the number started climbing ahead of the festival. It reached 3,000 in early-October and went up to 4,000 during and post the festival, the peak of the first wave.
“We are already seeing a slight rise though the number is not yet alarming. Keeping in mind the possibility of a further increase, we are holding regular meetings on scaling up facilities in case of an abrupt jump. Experienced with two waves of the pandemic, we are more confident of switching gear,” said AMRI Hospitals group CEO Rupak Barua.
RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) currently has 25 Covid patients, seven in critical care, which is almost double from a week ago. “In case the numbers keep rising, we will enhance our facility. Since the infrastructure is readily available, we can convert more non-Covid beds to Covid berths quickly and our medical team is prepared to handle the situation,” said Narayana Health regional head (east) R Venkatesh.
Ruby General Hospital has already installed an additional LMO tank and is preparing a manpower roster to avoid any kind of crisis. “By mid-October, we will get 40 additional beds in our new wing, which we pressed into service in case a similar spike that we witnessed around the festivities last year,” said Subhasish Datta, chief general manager (operations) at Ruby.
“There is the hypothesis of a third wave around October/November. With the festivities ahead, many people are likely to come out shopping. But we must remember to stick to Covid-appropriate behaviour,” said infectious diseases specialist Sayan Chakraborty of AMRI. Despite the potential surge ahead, doctors are banking on the good vaccination coverage in the city.