550 active Covid cases in Arunachal
Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, 24 Apr: The second wave of Covid-19 has hit the country hard with many cities no longer able to provide beds and oxygen to all those who need it, while the situation in Arunachal seems to be under control as of now.
However, some district headquarters and the dedicated Covid hospital (DCH) in Chimpu run by Tomo Riba Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (TRIHMS), where serious Covid-19 patients are treated, has reported facing shortage of human resources and Remdisivir, an antiviral drug used for Covid-19 treatment.
TRIHMS has no stock of Remdisivir. An order has been placed for 1,000 vials but with stock running out in the entire country, it is not sure when the state will be able to get it.
The state had procured 50 vials from Assam on loan recently.
The DCH in Pasighat has some stock of Remdisivir. Health Services Joint Director Dr D Raina said that the hospital has stock for now but it will not be enough if there are serious cases. He said that efforts are being made to procure more.
The DCH in Pasighat, which has 37 seats with four ICU beds run by Bakin Pertin General Hospital (BPGH), caters to most of Siang valley and Lower Dibang valley district. The hospital currently has four patients, including three from Lower Dibang Valley.
BPGH and TRIHMS, two of the largest hospitals in the state, have reported shortage in human resources, as they have to simultaneously manage the dedicated Covid hospitals.
While elsewhere in the country there are reports of shortage of oxygen, the dedicated Covid hospitals in Arunachal seem to be coping well for now as there are not many patients. But the situation could change in the next few days as the number of symptomatic cases is on the rise. In the DCH in Chimpu, which restarted after weeks of no cases, the number of cases has risen to 18, whereas it has only 40 beds with 10 ICU beds.
Dr Jego Ori, the spokesperson of TRIHMS, said that the beds in the Chimpu DCH are centrally connected with oxygen supply, and that a plant capable of generating 500 litres of oxygen will be functional soon.
He further said that three teams, each including two doctors and three nurses, are at work, and that the number will be increased based on cases, while there are separate teams for OT and labour room.
The DCH currently has two ambulances.
Lower Subansiri has four functional ICU beds and a four-bedded HDU, which is individually connected with a centralized oxygen supply system and a standby oxygen concentrator.
Essential drugs are not sufficient at the moment but request has been placed, according to the health department. The district currently does not have stock of Remdisivir.
Health Director Dr M Lego said that there might be shortage of some medicines as a new treatment protocol is being drawn up by TRIHMS and the AIIMS in Delhi. The institutes met on Friday online.
Meanwhile, the number of Covid cases continues to rise in the state with 116 cases reported on Saturday, taking the total active cases to 550 in the state.
The capital region has 164 cases, followed by 125 in Lower Dibang Valley.
The total fresh cases reported were from the Itanagar capital region (34 cases), Lower Dibang Valley (20) and Papum Pare (12). Thirty-six of the total 116 were symptomatic (see bulletin).
Nineteen people have either recovered or have been discharged, according to a health department bulletin.
