A group of patients with oxygen bottles in the shade of a tree is not a spectacle from the Nallamala forests in Prakasam.
Right in the heart of Ongole, one can watch a steady stream of patients gasping for air, trying to get some much-needed relief by setting up oxygen tanks themselves and desperate for the allotment of them on the picturesque Government General Hospital (GGH) campus Beds are waiting.
Numerous anxious relatives of patients are waiting in the reception center even with patients lying on the sidewalk, as the number of new cases, many of which are critical, has increased exponentially in recent times, resulting in a very tight bed availability situation at the GGH as well as in Vaidyavidan Parishad hospitals and private hospitals.
“‘We have switched all beds in the GGH to oxygen beds and only allowed critical cases,” said GGH COVID-19 wing knot officer John Richardson, who led a team of 120 doctors and over 500 nurses who provide 24/7 medical care to offer .
Active cases fell to fewer than 50 as Prakasam District didn’t register any cases for many days through March 2021, before the number of new cases rose again exponentially, now topping the 13,000 mark.
“The virus is more virulent now than it was during the first wave. As a result, recovery is slow, “he stated after a whistle-stop examination of a large number of patients on the floor in the COVID-19 ward he oversees.
“The availability of beds is very low because the geometric proportions of the cases have risen lately,” he reveals during a conversation with The Hindu. “The health situation is very critical when there is a very high fall load. It may take another month to get the situation under control. We’ll be out of the woods in about two months, ”he said as the new positive cases continued unabated day in and day out.
More than 700 patients at one point in the hospital needed oxygen therapy in the hospital with a bed with a 20 kl oxygen system. “There is no shortage of medication as such in the 1,200-bed hospital to treat COVID patients,” he added.
Meanwhile, Prakasam District Medical and Health Officer Fr. Ratnavalli stated that only critical cases were referred to 35 designated hospitals. The 19 COVID care centers operating across the district treated around 900 patients who did not require hospitalization. The remaining positive cases were treated from home.