Hospitals in Kathmandu Valley packed with corona patients, lockdown suggested

KATHMANDU, April 23: Most hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley, which have designated COVID-19 wards, have run out of their capacity.

The hospitals are forced to refer the incoming patients to somewhere else in coordination with the health ministry.

According to Dr Bimal Pandey, COVID-19 Treatment Coordinator at Patan Hospital, all the available beds –190 general wards and 21 ICUs – have been occupied for the past three days.  “We have referred the patients to other hospitals in coordination with the ministry,” Pnadey added.

Sukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital has also witnessed a massive flow of new corona patients. Most beds in the hospitals are packed.

Public health experts have warned that the situation will exacerbate unless people avoid crowds and abide strictly by the public health protocols. “The infection rate is so high that adding beds in hospitals doesn’t work,” said a doctor at Bir Hospital. According to him, sufficient numbers of human resources should be made available to face the growing risk in the wake of the second wave of the viral infection, which may be impossible if the situation worsens.

The health experts also suggested the government to enforce lockdown at least for two weeks to break the chain of infection at present. “We’ll fail to control the infection unless a two-week lockdown is placed,” said Dr Pandey.

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