New Delhi, Dec 08: With H1N1 influenza cases on the rise as winter sets in, and only 42 ventilators at designated hospitals to cater to critical patients, the Delhi government has placed ‘urgent tenders’ to procure 30 more ventilators.
Close to 600 H1N1 influenza cases have been reported in the Capital in the past three days, and with 198 patients testing positive for H1N1 flu on Monday, Delhi crossed the 6,000-mark. So far, 6,171 people have tested H1N1 positive in the city.
According to officials, two patients succumbed to the viral infection at St Stephen’s Hospital and Mata Chanan Devi Hospital in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 32 in the city.
On Monday, Newsline found some of the top hospitals designated to treat sine flu patients — Safdarjung, GTB, Ambedkar and RML — running full capacity. Not a single ventilator was free at these hospitals.
The cost of procuring these machines is estimated at over Rs 3 crore.
Meanwhile, most designated H1N1 centres running on full capacity have already informed the Delhi government to not refer patients to these hospitals.
“We have seen a significant increase in the number of cases in the past month and our capacity is full. I have informed Delhi government officials that we cannot accommodate more patients,” Safdarjung Hospital’s Medical Superintendent Dr K T Bhowmick said. The hospital has an isolation ward of 10 beds and an Intensive Care Unit for H1N1 patients with eight beds — both are fully occupied, Dr Bhowmick said.
GTB Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr U C Verma said the hospital is at an “advanced stage” in procuring ventilators. “We have only four ventilators and all are occupied. We are hoping to procure more machines within a month,” Dr Verma said.
–Agencies