Pune Hospital Runs Out Of Beds, Patients Given Oxygen In Waiting Area

On Friday Pune authorities ordered a 6 pm to 6 am curfew, and directed that malls, religious places, hotels and bars, and cinema theatres shut down for a week.

A hospital in Pune's Pimpri has run out of beds and been forced to provide oxygen support - to patients complaining of breathlessness - in a makeshift triage, or waiting area, where they are treated while the authorities try and find room inside. Seven oxygen beds have been set up in that space. पुणे में भयावह हुए हालात!बेड फ़ुल, वेटिंग एरिया में ही लगया ऑक्सिजन बेड.पिंपरी में YCM अस्पताल का नज़ारा,मरीज़ों की जान बचाने की कोशिश.ज़्यादातर कोविड मरीज़ साँस की दिक़्क़त के बाद ही पहुँच रहे हैं अस्पताल.ऑक्सिजन-ICU बेड की भारी कमी के बीच कैसे होगा नयी-बड़ी लहर से सामना? pic.twitter.com/xsFMl5RJgM The Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital has a total of 400 beds, including 55 in the ICU (intensive care unit). As of today not a single bed is free. Ventilators - to help Covid patients unable to breathe on their own - are in short supply, with only 79 available across Pune. "There is constant demand from patients in PCMC (Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation) limits and outside. Patients who feel breathless are immediately put on oxygen support in the triage... until we can find them a bed," Dr Kaustubh Kahane, an Assistant Professor at YCM Hospital, said. "When a new patient arrives, we have to take a call on admitting them - this depends on the severity of illness. If a patient needs oxygen support and no bed is available, then we ensure the patient does not suffer... We immediately ensure oxygen support," he said.