Covid hospital in Pabna full to brim

Sohrab Bishwas (70) came to Pabna General Hospital all the way from Kismat Protappur village under the Sadar upazila on Wednesday. He came in with respiratory problems, along with other symptoms of coronavirus. Doctors suggested he get admitted to the hospital immediately.

Only one problem -- there is no room to admit any new patient at the Covid unit of the hospital.

Seeing this, Sohrab's family decided to take him back home, but they couldn't find any health workers who could help them transport the patient.

After some time they managed to find an untrained ambulance driver, who, along with his helper, set up an oxygen cylinder for Sohrab and carried him back home.

"Nobody wanted to come with the Covid patient. I am nursing him for the sake of humanity," said ambulance driver Md Jony.

This correspondent saw another old woman suffering from respiratory problems sitting on a wheel chair while her family members were trying to rent oxygen cylinders for her. They finally managed to get one from a broker, at a rate of Tk 1,000 per hour.

Many others were also seen standing around the hospital premises with oxygen cylinders similarly plugged onto them.

Talking to The Daily Star, Dr Saleh Mohammad Ali, acting assistant director of the hospital, said providing oxygen at home at the hand of quacks can be riskier.

"Oxygen supply is not a medicine that people can carry home. Oxygen supply must be provided according to doctors' advise because excessive oxygen can be harmful," Dr Saleh said.

The 100-bed Covid unit of the hospital is already filled up with critical patients and Covid-suspected ones. With zero beds available, no one new is being admitted to the unit as critical patients need high flow oxygen supply.

Moreover, due to a lack of hospital facility to accommodate them, many desperate Covid patients are resorting to quacks.

Due to the alarming rise in Covid patients, a greater portion of the hospital's facilities is needed for Covid patients said Dr Saleh Mohammad Ali.

Dr Monisor Chowdhury, civil surgeon of Pabna, said due to the rapid rise in Covid cases, they have planned to dedicate an entire hospital for Covid patients.

"As the number of patients keep increasing, we will increase the number of beds for Covid patients by removing another department within a week," the civil surgeon said.

"We have already sent a letter citing our need for additional doctors and nurses for the unit. The heath directorate has already shifted 22 nurses from Pabna Mental Hospital and are trying to send in more personnel," the official added.

Talking to The Daily Star, Ruhul Hossain, administrative officer of Pabna General Hospital, said construction work for a central oxygen supply is underway.

"The oxygen supply line and liquid oxygen plant is already up, only the oxygen generating plant is left to be completed," Ruhul said.

"As the situation has turned dire, from Monday we have started a temporary high-flow oxygen supply with 12 cylinders in a mini-fold plant to tackle the crisis. However, we know this is not enough," the official informed.

"The high flow oxygen supply are for 56 beds available out of the 100-bed unit by mini fold (using oxygen cylinders) temporarily as the construction work of the central oxygen supply is yet to be completed," Dr Saleh said.

According to the district civil surgeon office, a total of 204 samples tested positive out of 1,262 in the last 24 hours till yesterday evening.

ANOTHER 100 BEDS ON WAY

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, district civil surgeon Dr Monisor Chowdhury said another 100 beds will be added to the hospital's Covid unit soon.

The 100 beds have already reached the Nursing Institute building, said the hospital's administrative officer Md Ruhul Hossain.

However, general patients will need to be shifted elsewhere to make room for the enlarged Covid unit. Of note, Pabna General Hospital is a 250-bed facility.

The additional 100 beds are likely to be operational from this week, he added.

Dr Saleh, however, said this will be a tough ask.

"We will need another 36 doctors and 80 nurses... Besides, general treatment at the hospital will have to be halted until we get more doctors. At this stage, it will be difficult to provide better service for everything," he added.