Odisha To Increase Hospital Beds By Fivefold

Bhubaneswar: With the sharp rise in the number of Covid-19 cased in the country, the Odisha Government has decided to increase the number of beds in the state Covid-19 hospitals by fivefold in comparison to that of last year. This also comes at a time when the daily cases in the state has also crossed three thousand.

The decision was taken a high level meeting og the state government officials that discussed the satiation in the state and reviewed the various healthcare facilities.

Speaking to media persons, Niranjan Mishra, Director, Public Health, said all the district collectors have been asked to take necessary steps to ramp up the availability of beds in their respective districts. They have been asked to increase the number of beds in all categories i.e., general beds, beds with oxygen, ICU beds and ICU beds with oxygen and ventilators.

Presently, 25 per cent of the general beds and 60 per cent of the ICU beds are occupied by patients in various hospitals of the state. Of the 541 ICU beds, 329 beds are occupied while 18 per cent of the ventilators are being used for the treatment of 45 critical patients. He also said that if the infection trend continues, Odisha may need ten times more oxygen cylinders than last year.