Hospitals in the Kathmandu Valley are teeming with severe cases of COVID-19.
A total of 61 persons are currently being treated at the intensive care units (ICU) of different hospitals in the Valley and a whopping 47 of them are on ventilator support, according to the Health Ministry.
Shukraraj Tropical and Infectious Disease Hospital at Teku is currently treating 12 COVID patients on ventilators, Patan Hospital 10, APF Hospital eight, Nepal Police Hospital and Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital five each, Bir Hospital and Grande Hospital three each, and HAMS Hospital one.
Hospitals in the Valley are currently treating almost 600 COVID-19 patients, according to the ministry's data released on Saturday.
Infectious disease specialist Dr Sher Bahadur Pun said the pressure of patients is rising in recent weeks most likely due to circulation of new variants in the population. That almost 80 percent of the patients in the ICU are on ventilators, according to Dr Pun, is a matter of serious concern. "The probability of a patient surviving gets very bleak once the patient is put on ventilator. That can lead to rise in the death rate," he reasoned.
He compared the current situation with the peak of the last wave and stated that the situation at the start of the second wave now is as bad as it was at the peak of last wave. He warned that the situation can get frightening if it continues in the current trajectory.
He said that another matter of concern is that the current number of infections has been seen in a very low number of tests pointing that while up to 20,000 PCR tests were done daily at the peak of last wave, only around 10,000 tests are being done now.
He added that the number of infections will rise significantly if the tests were expanded.
