Amid Covid rush, govt hospitals say they are running out of beds
SHIMLA : The surge in Covid-19 cases is pushing pressure on the state’s health infrastructure with the two main hospitals, Indira Gandhi Medical College, Shimla, and Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical College, Tanda, working on full capacity. The hospital managements have sought help from the government to increase the number of beds. The IGMC has a total bed capacity of 100 and it is almost full. “We are making arrangements to increase the capacity in the hospital. The patient rush is increasing by the day,” said senior medical superintendent Janak Raj Pakhretia.
The IGMC is also facing problems in handling bodies “On
Tuesday evening, three patients died, and we can only keep four bodies in a mortuary at a time,” he said. The five medical colleges in the state have a total capacity of 300 beds. To help cope with the patient load, Deen Dayal Hospital in Shimla will be turned into a Covid care centre. “We have the facilities to do so when the need arises,” Shimla chief medical officer Surekha Chopra said. At present, bodies of Covid patients are being cremated at the Kanlog crematorium, which is also used for cremating nonCovid dead. In November-end , the crematorium staff was overwhelmed due to the spurt in Covid-19 deaths and the government had initiated a move to create another ground for the last rites of the Covid dead.