Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)

ONLY 251 BEDS AVAILABLE FOR ANY NEW COVID-19 PATIENTS

● HEALTH AUTHORITIE­S IDENTIFY 147 MORE HOSPITALS TO TREAT INFECTED PATIENTS DEPENDING ON THE CURRENT SITUATION ● NUMBER OF BEDS TO BE INCREASED DEPENDING ON THE SITUATION ● SOME HOSPITALS HAVE EXCEEDED AVAILABLE CAPACITY

- BY SHEAIN FERNANDOPU­LLE

With the latest outbreak of COVID-19 in Minuwangod­a, the number of beds available as of yesterday to treat newly-infected patients stood at 251, according to statistics released by the National Operation Centre for Prevention of COVID-19 Outbreak (NOCPCO).

At present, hospital occupancy stands at 1,440 while the total capacity is 1,691 which means there only 251 more beds available for any new COVID-19 patients

The IDH, the Welikanda Base Hospital, Kamburugam­uwa Hospital, Teldeniya hospital and Kathankudy hospital had exceeded the bed capacity with the IDH accommodat­ing an extra 43 patients, Welikanda 10, Kamburugam­uwa 13, Teldeniya one and Katankudy six

Health authoritie­s had already identified another 147 hospitals to treat new COVID-19 patients depending on the situation

At present, hospital occupancy stands at 1,440 while the total capacity is 1,691 which means there are only 251 more beds available for any new COVID-19 patients.

The National Institute of Infectious Diseases (IDH), the Welikanda Base Hospital, Kamburugam­uwa Hospital, Teldeniya Hospital and Kathankudy Hospital had exceeded the bed capacity with the IDH accommodat­ing an extra 43 patients, Welikanda 10, Kamburugam­uwa 13, Teldeniya one and Katankudy six over the available capacity.

Health authoritie­s had already identified another 147 hospitals to treat new COVID-19 patients depending on the situation. These hospitals can accommodat­e more than 3,000 patients. The 13 hospitals that have been fully allocated to treat COVID-19 infected patients are the IDH, Welikanda Base Hospital, Iranawila Hospital, Minuwangod­a Base Hospital, Colombo East Base Hospital, District General Hospital Hambantota, District Hospital Rambukkana, Kamburugam­uwa Hospital, Kathankudy Hospital, Neville Fernando Hospital, Base Hospital Theldeniya, Base Hospital Homagama and Divisional Hospital in Laggala, Pallegama.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Sri Lanka