The footfall at outpatient departments of hospitals across Calcutta on Thursday was almost half of Wednesday’s and officials across hospitals attributed the sharp drop to the cancellation of suburban trains, reduction in the number of buses as well as Covid scare.

The footfall of non-Covid patients has been declining since the start of the second wave of Covid infections, but the drop was maximum on Thursday.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced a slew of measures to contain Covid in Bengal. The steps include cancellation of suburban trains and reduction in the number of buses and Metro trains.

Peerless Hospital had around 330 patients at its OPD on Wednesday. The number was 167 on Thursday, said an official.

The OPD billing counter at Peerless Hospital on Thursday morning. Telegraph picture

The RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences had around 350 patients at its OPD on Wednesday. The number fell to around 200 on Thursday.

AMRI Hospitals Dhakuria, too, witnessed a drop in the OPD footfall by 50 per cent on Thursday, compared with Wednesday.

“The OPD footfall had started picking up and almost became like it used to be during the pre-Covid period in February and March. Then we were having around 1,200 patients coming for consultations daily, including people from Bangladesh and various districts of Bengal. By April it started dipping because of the fresh surge in Covid,” said R. Venkatesh, regional director, east, Narayana Health, of which the RN Tagore hospital is the flagship unit.

“On Thursday we received calls from 50 patients who cancelled their appointments with doctors saying they had logistical issues including cancellation of trains to come to the hospital.”

At Peerless Hospital, more than 500 patients used to visit the OPDs every day about 15 days back. It started dipping since then but Thursday’s count was the lowest this year, said an official.

Many OPD appointments are also being cancelled because doctors are coming down with Covid despite having taken both doses of vaccines.

“On Thursday, 23 doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers at the hospital were out of action after being infected by the coronavirus,” said an official of Peerless.

“Many patients cancelled their appointments today saying they would not be able to come because trains have been cancelled. Some of them would have to get their consultancy done through video calls with doctors,” said Sudipta Mitra, the chief executive of Peerless Hospital.

Last year, too, hundreds of people suffering from non-Covid ailments were unable to go to hospital during the lockdown and even after the restrictions were lifted because train services were suspended. Once suburban trains started operating again, the footfall at the OPDs increased.

However, it started dipping again from April as planned surgeries and procedures were deferred to make room for more Covid patients at hospitals. Also, many non-Covid patients started avoiding OPD for fear of contracting the coronavirus. Along with this, the cancellation of suburban trains have further dragged down the footfall.

“We used to have around 500 patients daily for OPD consultations before the Covid pandemic. It was nil during last year’s lockdown. It started picking up in February and March and went up to about 250,” said an official of AMRI Hospitals Dhakuria. It dipped to 150 on Wednesday and 75 on Thursday.

Footfall was low at government hospitals, too.

At SSKM Hospital's cardiology department, around 500 patients would turn up daily for video consultation. “The number dropped to 300 and on Thursday it was around 200,” said Saroj Mondal, a cardiologist at SSKM.

Doctors said they were also forced to defer surgeries and consultations as beds were fewer for non-Covid patients.

A cancer patient is scheduled to undergo surgery to remove his tongue. “Most ICU beds are now occupied by Covid patients. This (cancer) patient will need ICU after the surgery. We’ll consult with relatives about whether it can be deferred,” said surgical oncologist Gautam Mukhopadhyay.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to treat non-Covid patients during the second wave. Non-availability of beds in general wards and intensive care units is a major cause of concern. The majority of doctors and supporting staff are busy with Covid management,” said Mukhopadhyay.

“Unless there is a significant decrease in the number of Covid cases soon, treatment of cancer and other major diseases will be badly affected. Accumulation of such a large number of cases will seriously challenge the healthcare infrastructure in the post-Covid period,” he said.

Case count

Bengal on Thursday recorded 18,431 new infections, 117 deaths and 17,412 recoveries. The number of active cases has risen to over 1.22 lakh. Of the 117 deaths, 33 were reported from Calcutta and 36 from North 24-Parganas. While Calcutta recorded 3,887 new infections, North 24-Parganas reported 3,922.