Paucity of oxygen-fitted beds hits COVID-19 treatment in Telangana
Deccan ChronicleHyderabad: The crunching shortage of oxygen-equipped beds in Hyderabad was not envisioned by the government or private hospitals, though they had the time to build infrastructure during the 80 days of lockdown, when the caseload was not as heavy as it is now. A senior public health specialist in the city said, “We had sufficient time but the analysis of worst case scenario was not done well, which led to this situation. Dr Rahul Medakkar, chief executive officer of Continental Hospitals, said, "A public private collaboration in healthcare is the need of the hour and it must be carried out by the state on a war-footing. There must be incentivisation so that the maximum number of lives can be saved.” The need of the hour is also to set up an independent committee of public health specialists, non-government organisations and senior doctors to guide the government in the management of cases. Dr Santosh Kraleti, public health specialist, said, “We need not only hospitals of the state government but also the Central government hospitals of the Army, ESI and other centres to be opened for managing severe cases.