JOIN USMortuaries filled to the brim, hospitals in Bengaluru struggle to handle Covid-19 bodies
Bengaluru’s mortuaries, already preserving bodies in medico-legal cases and unclaimed ones, are now overloaded with Covid corpses.
The government’s 17 medical colleges and two ESI hospitals in all have a combined capacity of around 150 mortuary chambers, but even its largest facility at Victoria Hospital with 48 mortuary chambers is full or almost full most of the time.
As of Sunday, Karnataka’s death toll stood at 684 with the state capital alone accounting for 274 casualties. Though a hospital has 100-150 Covid beds, its mortuary slots are in single digit. For example, the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital has 165 Covid beds but only six mortuary slots.
The KC General Hospital has 110 Covid beds but four mortuary slots. They shift dead bodies to hospitals with higher mortuary capacity, which is mostly Victoria Hospital.
A forensic expert at Victoria Hospital said that with the death toll rising every day, the government can start storing bodies in private hospital mortuaries. “Just like 50% of beds have been reserved for treatment of Covid patients from the government, the same arrangement can be made for mortuary slots,” he said.
With mortuaries running out of space, the hospitals are demanding more slots for Covid-19 bodies.
A doctor from the department of forensic medicine at the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital, who did not want to be named, said, "We have only six slots and have requested for them to be increased."
After a recent visit to Bowring Hospital, Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar had asked for a faster death audit as the number of deaths at the hospital was more.
The 360-bed KC General Hospital has had instances where its mortuary was swamped with more than 10 bodies, when its capacity is only four. The hospital has 110 Covid beds.
"When the number of bodies exceeds our capacity, we request the BBMP to quickly take the bodies for cremation even if the results haven't arrived. Otherwise, the bodies will remain on the stretcher," said Medical Superintendent Dr B R Venkateshaiah.
The situation is no different at private hospitals. Among the private medical colleges who are housing Covid patients in triple digits are Akash Medical College, Devanahalli (600 beds), MS Ramaiah Medical College (160 beds), and St John's Medical College Hospital (230 beds).
Mobile freezer units
MS Ramaiah Hospital has augmented its mortuary capacity from 10 to 15 after the pandemic started. They say they store the bodies in mobile freezer units if they exceed the capacity, but they can stretch it only up to 20 at any given point of time.
Dr Harish K, Associate Dean, Ramaiah Medical College Hospital, told DH, "We had only 10 mortuary slots. We have ordered temporary freezers to augment the capacity."
Dr Girish Chandra, Professor at the Department of Forensic Medicine, said, "Last week, all 15 slots were occupied in the Ramaiah mortuary. Six were of Covid patients. We have ordered five mobile freezer boxes, so now we can't accommodate beyond 20 bodies."
Akash Medical College medical superintendent Dr Kailash N told DH, "We have only eight units in the mortuary. If we exceed the capacity, we intimate the health inspector to take the bodies as early as possible. Otherwise, we have to shift them to the Devanahalli General Hospital mortuary."