Hospitals full in capital as cases surge continues

Gandhi Hospital, TIMS and over a dozen corporate hospitals declare all beds in ICU full on Monday

The health care facilities in the twin cities are facing an impending crisis situation with COVID-designated Gandhi Hospital in Secunderabad, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences (TIMS) in Gachibowli and over a dozen corporate hospitals declaring all the beds in Intensive Care Units (ICU) full on Monday. Although the official health bulletin issued quoting Sunday’s data said that in Gandhi Hospital, out of the 500 ICU beds with ventilator, 338 were occupied and 162 are vacant, the real picture is more dire, top health officials revealed on condition of anonymity. Of the 1,000 beds with oxygen facility, 202 are occupied and 798 vacant but “filling up fast”. Critical cases in these wards cannot be shifted to the ICUs as they are already filled to capacity. Similarly, in TIMS, all the 137 ICU beds are full even if the bulletin claimed 82 were occupied and 55 vacant. These will be full by tonight is the official estimate, pointing towards the grim situation.