COVID Infection Showing Upward Trend in Bangladesh

As the number of Covid-19 cases surges, the hospitals of the infection-prone districts of the country have been running out of beds fast. Even after increasing the number of beds in these hospitals, more patients are being admitted almost every day than the number of beds. Even increasing the number of beds is not sufficient for the patients.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), this June will not be as easy as last month due to the increase in the infection rate of the Coronavirus. The main reason for this is the rate of infection in the bordering districts. In the meanwhile, if the restrictions announced by the government are relaxed, the situation will get worse.

Even though the number of beds is being increased in the dedicated hospitals, doctors, and nurses in Rajshahi, Khulna and Jessore are struggling to cope with the pressure of patients. Many hospitals are attending to more patients than beds. Even after visiting four or five hospitals, the desired service is not available.

Thakurgaon Gopalpara's Abdus Samad was admitted to the District Sadar Hospital after infecting with coronavirus. Doctors told the relatives to take him to Rangpur Hospital four days ago to give him high-speed oxygen. But as there is no vacancy in ICU in Rangpur, he has to stay in Thakurgaon with an oxygen saturation of less than 90.

Samad's daughter Sharmeen Samad said her father was 68 years old and he has other complications, including diabetes. He is very weak because he cannot eat properly. He does not have the physical condition to be taken to Dhaka for better treatment.

When the second wave of coronavirus started in March, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) ordered to resume the activities of the closed Covid-19 hospitals. But at that time the most of the patients did not get ICU, nor did they get a normal bed. Many died in ambulances due to a lack of ICU.

Almost one and a half year has passed since the Pandemic, but district-level hospitals are not ready for proper Covid-19 treatment. Although there is talk of providing 'adequate' beds in the district hospitals, ICU facilities are very inadequate. As of Thursday, 37 of the country's 64 districts do not have ICUs for Covid treatment, according to government data. Of them, five districts in Dhaka division, eight in Chittagong, six in Rangpur, two in Sylhet, four in Barisal, four in Khulna, six in Rajshahi, and two in Mymensingh.

The total number of ICU beds in the country is 2420. Of these, 1218 are in Dhaka metropolis and 59 in Chattogram metropolis. The remaining 1143 ICU beds are in 25 districts. Apart from Dhaka and Chittagong, there are 1603 ICU-equivalent beds with high flow nasal cannula in different districts. There are no such beds in 11 districts.

Deadly Delta variants have spread across the country. For this reason, experts say to pay attention to the medical system immediately. The National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19 also said that the treatment of coronavirus on a large scale in the country would pose a huge challenge to the medical system. As seen in the neighboring country India. The committee says India is still going through this challenge.

Experts have suggested setting up a field hospital on an emergency basis to prevent deaths and infections in Coronavirus. In their opinion, the number of corona patients is increasing in the country at an alarming rate. To ensure the treatment of this huge number of patients, it is necessary to establish field hospitals with at least one thousand beds. There, patients will receive the necessary treatment and isolation will also be arranged. However, the field hospital must have an oxygen system. These hospitals need to be set up in populated areas. So that a large number of patients can admit there.

Member of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, Prof. Iqbal Arslan said, "The number of patients is increasing and it will have an impact. If the number of patients in Bangladesh increases like in India, it will be difficult for Bangladesh to handle it. We have repeatedly said this. The advisory committee has also spoken about it.

Professor Iqbal Arslan said, "This time the number of patients needing oxygen or ICU is higher. It was necessary to think in advance. There are various explanations for those who are engaged in the implementation of these works. But how acceptable that explanation is a big question. "

"Wherever the number of patients is increasing, we see in the media that there is a shortage of medical facilities," said Professor Nazrul Islam, another member of the advisory committee.

After the ECNEC meeting on June 2 last year, Planning Minister MA Mannan told reporters, "The Prime Minister has said that ICU units should be set up in every hospital, ventilators should be installed in every hospital and adequate oxygen supply should be increased." The Prime Minister has also instructed to buy the necessary equipment for this.

The ECNEC meeting on the same day approved two projects. At the time, it was said that under the Covid-19 Emergency Response and Pandemic Preparedness project, the capacity of the health system and health workers for identifying and testing Covid-19 patients would be enhanced.

The project was to train 3,500 health workers in modern skills and knowledge. However, the benefits are not yet available. Although ICU construction work has been completed in some district hospitals, it has not been completed yet. Work has not started in some district hospitals.

To handle the situation, a seven-day lockdown has been announced in Khulna from next Tuesday (June 22). Lockdown has started in Bogra and Chuadanga.

Abu Jamil Faisal, a member of the public health advisory committee of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said that not all Covid-19 patients need to go to the hospital. ‘The number of the patients increasing, will increase. If it continues to rise in this way, there will be pressure on the medical system,” said Abu Jamil Faisal. ''Many patients can recover from home only by following the rules and regulations including breathing exercises. People also need to be informed about this. We need to increase public participation in this regard.''