Lack of ICU beds in Bengaluru alarming, says Karnataka High Court

THE LACK of availability of a enough variety of beds for critically sick Covid sufferers in Bengaluru is an “alarming situation”, the Karnataka High Court stated Tuesday whereas listening to a plea on Covid-linked points within the state.
A division bench headed by Chief Justice Abhay Sreenivas Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar famous that there had solely been a “marginal increase” in availability of beds within the metropolis and that they have been inadequate for the variety of instances.
The courtroom stated the shortage of medical services — beds, oxygen provide and key medication like Remdesivir — are linked to the fitting to life enshrined below Article 21 of the Constitution.
The High Court’s remarks got here after it was knowledgeable by officers that solely 74 HDU beds, 24 ICU beds and 14 ICU ventilator beds have been obtainable within the metropolis Tuesday morning. The division bench directed officers to accommodate sufferers in hospitals belonging to the defence forces, resembling Command Hospital, in Bengaluru.
Earlier, on April 23, the bench had known as the Covid state of affairs in Bengaluru “shocking” and “scary”.

The metropolis is going through a extreme crunch in beds for Covid sufferers requiring intensive care and ventilator assist. “The situation is so bad that even senior government officials cannot get an ICU or an ICU ventilator bed in the city,” a senior official stated.
The variety of instances in Bengaluru has soared from a mean of 4,000 within the first week of April to over 15,000 previously week. This month has additionally witnessed 326 extra Covid deaths than the earlier peak of September 2020 when 971 deaths have been reported.