With the available health infrastructure in Anantapur district falling short of the requirement in view of the of the spurt in the coronavirus cases, the government has converted the 500-bed Government General Hospital (GGH) here into an exclusive COVID-19 facility.
Collector Gandham Chandrudu issued orders to this effect on Wednesday late evening. An action plan is also being readied to shift all non-COVID patients to private hospitals, and allocate the GGH beds to COVID patients in phases.
Sharp rise in cases
On Saturday, a number of COVID-19 patients were found waiting at the GGH for admission into the COVID-19 and Infectious Diseases Ward. However, the available 164 beds appeared far from adequate, given the sharp rise in the COVID-19 cases. The district reported 674 positive cases on Monday and 458 more cases on Tuesday, straining the health infrastructure to a great extent. The caseload has crossed the 6,000-mark on Tuesday. .
Dearth of beds was emerging as a concern as all symptomatic cases invariably land at the GGH. People are also getting admitted to two private hospitals here, but only after being tested positive . Hence, the administration was promoting home isolation for a majority of the patients; but many, owing to stigma, are opting for COVID Care Centres, which are insufficient.
Anantapur Urban MLA Anantha Venkatarami Reddy was pitching for upgradation of the GGH so that close to 700 beds would be made available at one place. There was also palpable public pressure for increasing the bed strength at the hospital.
