As hospitals are full, Nepal asks only serious patients to visit hospitals

With all hospital beds occupied and the number of COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan nation skyrocketing, Nepal's Health Ministry has asked infected people to visit medical facilities only if the condition worsens.

As COVID-19 cases in the Himalayan nation continue to rise, in recent weeks, taking the total number of active cases beyond the 25,000 mark, the Health Ministry asked people to seek medical care in case of emergency only.

"With an increase in infection, hospitals are running short of beds. (COVID-19) Patients are not able to get a bed. While all the government and private hospitals must manage facilities to treat the patients, the condition has turned problematic in Kathmandu with a spike of cases. If the infection continues to rise as of now, then hospitals would not be able to bear the influx," Dr Jageshwor Gautam, one of the spokespersons at Ministry of Health and Population said.

The Himalayan nation registered its all-time highest spike in daily cases reporting 3,439 new cases of COVID-19 taking the national tally to 94, 253 with the death toll standing at 578.

The country's infection rate is at 22.4 per cent along while the recovery rate of patients suffering from COVID-19 lying between 70 and 80 per cent.

The medical sector which always has remained impoverished, Nepal now lacks enough beds and ventilators as the cases continue to rise. Tumbling with increased cases on daily basis, the Health Ministry has further requested infected ones who face serious complications to visit the hospital.

Gautam has requested people with fever, cough and running nose not to rush to the hospital though these are possible COVID-19 symptoms as well as for flu.

"Currently, there has been an increasing trend of rushing off to the hospital experiencing simple symptoms--fever, cough or running nose, which also is attributed to the common cold. Therefore, we request the infected ones to go to the hospital in case you experienced difficulties in breathing, fainted or are about to faint, experience problem in urination or relatively low flow of urine," spokesperson Dr Gautam said.

As per the ministry, Nepal by late September had 930 ventilators while the number of ICU beds stands at 2,600. With 25,007 active cases confirmed on Wednesday, isolation beds in hospitals around the Himalayan nation are almost full.

The COVID-19 infection in Nepal in earlier stage had spread out in districts bordering India which now has turned its flames towards capital Kathmandu and the valley which logs more than 50 per cent of total caseloads reported on daily basis.

( With inputs from ANI )