The number of new Covid cases has dropped sharply but at several hospitals the percentage of critical patients is higher than those in the general ward, said doctors and officials of healthcare facilities.
On Tuesday, June 22, Bengal reported 1,852 Covid cases and 47 deaths. According to the state health department data, 9.67 per cent of the total Covid beds were occupied.
One month back, on May 22, 18,863 new cases were detected in the state and there were 154 deaths. On that day, 37.58 per cent of the Covid beds were occupied.
Doctors and officials of several hospitals said although the bed occupancy had come down drastically along with fresh cases, the percentage of critical patients was high.
They cited several reasons for this - including the emergence of a mutated strain that possibly causes more severe disease and better knowledge of the virus, which is enabling doctors to prolong the fight.
At the RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, 55 per cent of the 59 Covid patients were in the ICU on Tuesday, said an official of the hospital. One month back, the hospital had 233 patients and half of them were in the critical care unit.
Woodlands Hospital would have three times more patients in the general ward compared with the critical care unit during the first wave and also in the initial phase of the second wave.
“But now the ratio has reversed. For every general bed patient, there are almost two patients in the ICU,” said Rupali Basu, the managing director of the hospital.
On Tuesday, the hospital had 19 Covid patients in the ICU and 13 in the general ward.
Peerless Hospital has 15 patients in the critical care unit and a similar number in the general ward. One month back, the hospital had 175 Covid patients, of whom 42 were in the ICU.
AMRI Hospitals Dhakuria had 14 patients in the ICU and 18 in the general ward on Monday. A couple of weeks back, the number of patients in the general ward was much higher than the ICU, said an official.
He said the number of patients in the general ward was going down as people were getting discharged but the ICU occupancy was not improving.
Doctors said there could be several factors behind the trend.
“This time the severity of the virus was much more, leading to a higher number of people getting affected. So naturally more ICU beds were full. Also, critical patients are staying in hospital for a longer period than last year,” said Ajoy Krishna Sarkar, the head of the critical care unit at Peerless Hospital.
“The virus is causing more damage to the lungs, and also secondary infections. Also, we understand the pathogenesis of the disease better and can intervene at the right time in the right manner. So despite the severity, the fight with the disease could be prolonged this time with better management,” said Sarkar.
Soutik Panda, a critical care consultant at Woodlands Hospital, said a major factor for more criticality was the unique characteristic of the mutated strain of the virus.
“Last time, the pulmonary system of a Covid patient would be badly affected usually after seven to eight days and the oxygen demand would go up from day 10 or 12. But this time, the pulmonary system was getting affected much earlier. In many cases we found the system was getting severely damaged barely two to three days after having symptoms,” said Panda.
