ICU beds filling up fast at Srinagar hospitals

SRINAGAR : With the continued surge in Covid-19 cases in Jammu and Kashmir, the tertiary-care hospitals in Srinagar are fast running out of dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) beds.

For the past one week, four districts — Srinagar, Budgam, Baramulla and Kupwara — that are experiencing major spike in virus cases and deaths, have been under lockdown, which is likely to be extended if the situation does not improve.

“The lockdown may be extended with stricter curbs for some days as the cases are still rising, especially in Srinagar,” a senior government official said.

On Tuesday, the UT witnessed the highest number of positive cases since the pandemic outbreak in March 2020, with Srinagar recording the most (1,311) cases, followed by Jammu with 598 cases.

“Beds are filling fast at SMHS and Chest Diseases hospitals, which come under the Government Medical College (GMC), Srinagar. There is a medical emergency-like situation,” said GMC nodal officer Dr Salim Khan.

Another senior GMC doctor, Salim Iqbal said that the UT is seeing over 4,000 daily cases, and this figure is more than that of some nations.

Notwithstanding the ground situation, the J&K administration’s daily Covid bulletin paints a rosy picture of bed occupancy at its dedicated hospitals.

As per the bulletin, till Tuesday evening, of total 116 ICU beds, 77 were vacant in Kashmir, while in Jammu, of 234 ICU beds, 103 were unoccupied. Of the 3,591 isolation beds in J&K, 1,565 were still vacant.

J&K sees record single-day spike of 4,716 cases, 52 deaths

SRINAGAR/JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday hit another grim milestone with a record single-day rise of 4,716 Covid-19 infections and 52 deaths.

Overall, the number of cases in the UT reached 1,96,585 and the death toll is now 2,510. Of the new cases, 3,198 are from Kashmir, while 1,518 pertain to Jammu.

Among these, 129 were travellers. Out of the 52 deaths, 28 were reported in Jammu division and 24 in Kashmir.