Rajshahi Medical College Hospital is struggling to cope with a surge in coronavirus patients, even after adding another ward to its COVID-19 unit.
Although there was a dip in the daily positivity rate on Tuesday, the hospital's corona unit remains stretched beyond capacity, reports bdnews24.com.
The hospital had 135 dedicated beds for coronavirus patients but the authorities subsequently increased the number of beds to 264 after expanding its COVID-19 unit on Tuesday.
But the hospital currently has 277 admitted COVID-19 patients, and others were left to lie on the floor.
As many as 35 new patients have been admitted to the hospital in the last 24 hours, according to Saiful Ferdous, deputy director of the hospital. Another 33 were taken in the previous day, including patients from Chapainawabganj, Naogaon, Natore, Meherpur and Chuadanga. Seventeen patients have since been discharged after recovery, he said.
On Wednesday, 17 of the 277 COVID-19 patients were in intensive care.
MORE DEATHS
RMCH is the lone hospital in the district providing treatment to COVID-19 patients. At least eight patients in the COVID-19 unit succumbed to the disease in the last 24 hours, said Saiful. The dead were natives of Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj.
While four of them died after testing positive for the disease, the others while showing symptoms of COVID-19, including respiratory distress, passed away before taking the test.
HIGH POSITIVITY RATE
Testing of 490 samples in two PCR labs in RMCH on Tuesday yielded 199 positive results, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
The data showed that the positivity rate in Rajshahi dropped to 40.62 per cent on Tuesday, from 45.07 per cent a day earlier. The figure hit 50.27 per cent on Jun 5, a weekly high