Kolkata: No bed available in private hospitals – Times Now

The latest surge in the number of positive COVID-19 cases has come as a big worry for the officials and the situation is likely to go from bad to worse in Kolkata. The private hospitals in the state are running out of beds, which has come as another blow for the government. As per a report, the lack of beds in the state has seen the patients being turned away.

Kolkata has been witnessing high number of positive cases and given the latest update, the situation is likely to worsen in the city. As per a report in The Times of India, as many as seven private hospitals didn’t have any vacant bed. The report adds that there are only 38 beds available in private hospitals.

“We are running out of beds despite having increased the number. The demand for ICU beds is also on the rise. So we are planning to augment the number of beds, especially for patients who need critical care support,” Sudipta Mitra, CEO of Peerless Hospital, said.

The lack of beds will now force COVID-19 patients to quarantine themselves at their homes. On Wednesday, West Bengal witnessed its highest single-day spike with 1,088 people testing positive for the infection. Kolkata, the worst-hit city in the state, accounted for 322 new cases. Kolkata has now witnessed 8,368 cases of COVID-19 patients.

To contain the spread of the virus, the West Bengal government announced a lockdown in 25 zones from Thursday afternoon. West Bengal was one of the states that entered Unlock 1 on June 1. But like has been the case with Telangana, it has been witnessing high number of cases since June. The latest lockdown is expected to yield positive results.

Apart from the West Bengal government, a few other state governments had also announced lockdown in respective states to contain the spread of COVID-19.