Beds filling fast, hosps rush to make room for dengue cases

New Delhi: Amid a steady spike in dengue cases in the national Capital, the state-run LNJP Hospital and various other government and private facilities have augmented arrangements to attend to the rising number of patients with some hospitals such as Safdarjung Hospital quickly running out of beds for dengue patients.

Seventeen confirmed and 55 suspected cases of dengue have been reported till Tuesday at the LNJP Hospital, officials said on Wednesday.

"As cases have spiked, we have made arrangements to attend to dengue patients. Mild cases and suspected cases are being kept in the Fever Ward on the third floor of the Emergency Block of the hospital, while patients in serious conditions are kept in Medicine Ward in the campus," a senior doctor said.

She said if required, other wards can be taken up too to cater to dengue patients, as cases of COVID-19 have fallen significantly in the last two months. LNJP Hospital, a 1500-bed facility, has served as the nerve centre of the city's fight against the Covid pandemic.

"Now, cases of dengue have started rising, when we all thought that Covid cases had abated. So, we all need to be very alert and take all precautions to prevent dengue," the senior doctor of the LNJP Hospital said.

According to data shared by the hospital authorities, only eight patients of Covid were there at the facility till Monday. Other Delhi government-run facilities have also ramped up arrangements amid the surge in cases of dengue.

Leading private facilities are also trying to ensure that dengue patients are attended to and looked after, even as cases continue to spike, putting pressure on existing medical infrastructure as large resources had been dedicated earlier for the treatment of COVID-19.

The national Capital has seen a surge in dengue cases in the last two weeks and the first death due to it was reported on Monday.

According to a civic report on vector-borne diseases released on Monday, one death due to dengue and a total of 723 dengue cases have been recorded this season till October 16, which is the highest case count since 2018 for the same period. The total number of cases this year till October 9 had stood at 480, indicating 243 fresh cases have been logged in one week — more than the number of Covid cases reported that week.