‘Scarcity of beds, oxygen inKashi to be over in 10 days’

Varanasi: Despite all efforts to increase beds, oxygen supply and ventilators to meet the challenges being posed by the fresh wave of Covid-19, major relief is still around 10 days away.
District magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma said there will be a stressful situation of oxygen availability for the next two days and appealed to hospitals to admit patients only as per their allotted oxygen quota and refer the rest to higher centres.
Sharma and MLC AK Sharma met BHU officials and asked them to increase 40 beds for Covid patients. BHU has been given 15 more ventilators.
As the number of patients in adjoining districts has also started increasing, they have also started procuring oxygen from Chandauli.
Divisional commissioner Deepak Agrawal said the number of beds with oxygen facility has increased to 650, while ventilators and beds with high flow nasal cannula had been increased to 400 in Varanasi till Thursday night.
“The process to set up an oxygen plant in DDU district hospital has started and it will be ready by May 5. The demand for additional manpower, including doctors and paramedics, is also being fulfilled,” Agarwal added.
Two more RNA extraction machines would be installed and become operational in 10 days and will reduce the time of Covid tests, he added.
He said BHU has been asked to outsource staff for lab operations and the Kashi Vishwanath temple would give funds to pay them.
The 1,000 bed Covid-19 facility being set up by DRDO in German Hangars at BHU stadium will also be completed in the next 10 days.
All these additional arrangements will be in place in the next 10 days after which there will be some respite, the commissioner added.
Meanwhile, officials are appealing to people to consult doctors soon on noticing Covid symptoms and take medicines so that severity and complications are avoided and they can get cured at home.