The government is going to rent hotels for providing treatment to Covid patients with mild complications as hospitals are under an unprecedented crisis with huge patients, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Tuesday. “Already 90 percent of the seats in hospitals have been packed. And 95% ICU beds are also occupied. We’re preparing a field hospital at Bangabandhu Medical University where we can immediately arrange 500-600 beds,” he said. The minister said, “Everyone infected with corona needs not to be hospitalised. So, we’re thinking of renting hotels for dealing with the patients who’ve mild complications. We’ll have doctors, nurses, medicines, and some oxygen in those hotels.” He came up with the remarks while talking to reporters after an inter-ministerial meeting at the Secretariat with Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque in the chair.  Read: Bangladesh’s Covid nightmare: 235 more die, 15,776 infected Maleque said they have started looking for hotels as they will no longer be able to accommodate the growing number of patients in hospitals. “If we can give treatment to the Covid patients with mild infections at hotels, they’ll be able to go back home after recovery from there, and it will help reduce the pressure on the hospitals. So, we’ve taken this step.”

Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Monday said the demand for ICU beds is growing fast as Covid cases have surged alarmingly, signalling that a more worrying time lies ahead. “But there’s still no ICU beds in 35 districts. Though the Prime Minister asked to set up ICU beds in all districts a year back, the health ministry has failed to do that,” he said. Read: Corruption in health sector widespread: GM Quader In a statement, the Jatiya Party chief said, “The Corona situation is heading towards an appalling point due to the failure of the health ministry. So, effective steps should be taken to install ICUs and ensure adequate oxygen support in all districts as soon as possible.” GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, said 76 percent of the country’s total ICU beds are in Dhaka division while 73 percent alone in the capital. Read:Lockdown can’t be fruitful keeping people hungry: GM Quader Referring to an IEDCR report, he said 78 percent of Covid patients in June last were infected with Delta or Indian variant, mounting the demand for the ICU beds. GM Quader bemoaned that the relatives are rushing from one district to another with Covid patients as there are no ICUs at the district level. Read:Not possible to tackle Covid with gifted vaccines: GM Quader Stating that almost all of the ICUs at government hospitals in the capital are not empty, he said the CUs of private hospitals are also filling up quickly with critical patients. "The health directorate yesterday (Sunday) said the oxygen supply will become a challenge, if the number of patients continues to surge. So, there’s be an outcry for ICUs if the situation worsens further, leading to the alarming rise in mortality rate,” the Jatiya Party chief warned.

While the country witnesses a continuous upsurge in coronavirus cases, 8,873 general and 565 ICU beds are available across the eight divisions for Covid-19 patients. Health Ministry on Sunday said in a press release that as many Covid patients have left the hospital after recovery, these beds are now unoccupied.  From the data provided by the hospitals in eight districts, the total Covid-dedicated number of beds in the country is now 12,347 and the number of ICU beds is 1,092. Also read: DNCC Market Hospital to get 200 new ICU beds: Health Minister In hospitals of Dhaka city, 3,799, beds are unoccupied of the 5,626 general beds. Of the total 773 ICU beds, 420 are available now in the city. Country’s recovery rate 90% So far, 687,328 people have recovered, including 2,657 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS. Also read: Covid-19 surge lays bare another crisis: Scant ICU beds and specialists This projects a 90.21 percent recovery among the patients.

In Italy lines of ambulances park outside hospitals awaiting beds, and in France the government coronavirus tracking app prominently displays the intensive care capacity taken up by COVID-19 patients: 92.5% and rising. In the ICU in Barcelona, there is no end in sight for the doctors and nurses who endured this once already. Intensive care is the last line of defense for severely ill coronavirus patients and Europe is running out — of beds and the doctors and nurses to staff them, reports AP.