JOIN USSome Covid Care Centres in Bengaluru to shut as Covid-19 patients prefer home isolation
As most Covid positive patients prefer to stay in home isolation, the BBMP is planning to close down a few Covid Care Centres, of the 12 in the city.
Elaborate preparations were made at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre — said to be India’s biggest Covid Care Centre — with 10,100 beds. Initially, 6,500 beds were available, but only 1,500 were kept open as most patients preferred to stay under home isolation. Now, only 550 beds are occupied.
The city still has 34,735 active Covid cases.
As per data released by the BBMP Covid-19 War Room on August 19, in the 12 CCCs, 2,786 of 4,576 beds are filled. Nearly 1,790 beds are still vacant in these CCCs, including at the BIEC.
The data also shows that between July 1 and August 18, 92,212 cases were reported in the city, of which 39.1 per cent were admitted to hospitals, 35.1 per cent stayed under home isolation, and only 15.1 per cent were shifted to CCCs.
Since most people approached hospitals and created a shortage of beds there, a fortnight ago, the BBMP decided to accommodate patients with only severe respiratory problems at hospitals. Asymptomatic people with mild symptoms could stay at home and take medication.
BBMP Commissioner N Manjunatha Prasad also said only five per cent are serious cases and need hospitalisation.
The rest can stay under home isolation, Prasad said.
Rajender Kumar Kataria, IAS officer and in-charge of CCCs, explained that since most patients want to stay at home, they have decided to close down a couple of CCCs.
These include one each in Jnanabharathi and the student hostels in the GKVK campus at the University of Agricultural Sciences as they have to start the academics session, he said.
In BIEC, only one hall will be used as nearly 1,000 beds are still vacant, of the 1,500, Kataria added.