Covid-19 deaths in Bengaluru rise due to ICU shortages

The shortage of ICU beds and oxygen has triggered a dramatic rise in the number of Covid-19 deaths in Bengaluru, in a repeat of what the city had seen in the darkest days of the pandemic last year.

Over an eight-day period from April 12, 405 deaths were recorded in the city, spanning the time frame when the city’s bed and oxygen shortages started to become acute. In contrast, 174 deaths had been disclosed in the eight days before the crisis started.

Experts have agreed that deaths increase whenever ICU services are swamped. This was the case last year when in mid-June the city recorded a huge number of deaths after it ran out of ICUs starting from June 17.

From June 24, the death tally jumped abruptly into double digits and remained so for the next 130 days.

As with last year, some of the fatalities in the second wave are people who failed to secure life-saving services.

Read: Covid-19 leaves India breathless as Centre, states scramble to meet growing demand for medical oxygen

In the last 72 hours alone, a 28-year-old man, who was recently married, died on Saturday after the oxygen supply at the private hospital he was admitted ran out. This was followed by the death of a suspected Covid-19 patient and domestic help on Sunday after she was turned away from three hospitals for lack of funds.

Several sources in the government said the city had effectively run out of ICU beds on Sunday, with a small number being made available through discharges.

“The number of ICU beds in Bengaluru has never been large. However, beds are becoming free sporadically as patients cannot usually occupy them for more than three to four days at a time,” said Gaurav Gupta, Chief Commissioner, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Nevertheless, the situation was grim on Monday. Although the city listed 591 ICU and ICU-ventilator beds, only 15 were officially available on paper.

Cardiologist Dr C N Manjunath, who is also a member of the Covid Task Force Committee, said the healthcare system is choked.

“Relentless public events, ranging from weddings to political events to religious festivals have triggered the massive surge,” he said.

“Although Covid-19 patients now are spending less time in the hospital than in the first wave, the large number of cases is straining the system,” he added.

A representative of the all-volunteer Emergency Response Team (ERT) said that a confluence of events is responsible for the crisis. “In addition to the low number of ICU beds and the depletion of oxygen, testing rates fell dramatically in the run-up to the holidays last week. It appears that many positive cases were missed,” said Ameen e-Mudassar, a founding
member.

Dr Manjunath also echoed the same, saying that the travel of many people from cities to villages during the festivals had spread the infection.