The situation in Banke is frightening, with patients lying outside the hospital

KATHMANDU: FRIDAY, APRIL 23, 2021 – Covid-19 infection is becoming frightening in Banke. As the number of infected people is increasing, it has become difficult to get a bed in the hospital.

According to Tej Bahadur Oli, focal person of District Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (DCCMC) Banke, the Corona special isolation ward of Bheri Hospital in Nepalgunj is full of Corona infected. The 15-bed Covid Intensive Care Unit and the 102-bed Corona Special Ward at Bheri Hospital are full of patients. “All the beds are packed now. If a new patient comes, there is no place to keep him,” he told Makalu Khabar.

There is not even space for a 40-bed pre-isolation ward to house suspected patients in Corona. As the spread of the infection has not stopped, the overall health system has been affected, he said. “The pressure of the patients has gone beyond the capacity of the hospital. The condition is difficult as the hair is growing day by day,” he said.

According to Focal Person Valley, there are currently 1,654 active infected people of Covid in Banke. Of these, more than 1,100 are infected home isolation. Others have been admitted to Bheri Hospital, Nepalgunj Medical College Teaching Hospital, Kohalpur Municipality Covid Hospital, White House Manikapur and Home Isolation. Lately, 90 percent of the PCR samples tested every day have been positive.

He said that the patients were deprived of treatment at the hospital as the infection was getting out of control. “In the past, there were more infected people with normal symptoms. Not everyone needed oxygen for treatment, “he said.” There are more patients with severe pneumonia this time around.

He complained that there was an immediate shortage of oxygen as the number of patients with severe symptoms increased. He says there is no time to control the infection. “There is no time for others to do it. Ninety percent of those who have recently been infected have symptoms. If beds with oxygen could be provided in every municipality, serious patients could be kept in Bheri and Medical College. We are raising our voice, but the concerned bodies are hot, ‘said Oli.

He said that the situation would be dire if arrangements were not made for infection control and treatment of the patients. “We are too late. If left unchecked, the situation will be like in Lucknow,” he said.