Muscat: There is a serious concern over the lack of enough beds in hospitals across the Sultanate as the number of inpatients with covid-19 has shot up phenomenally over the past two weeks.
As of today, there are 1,448 inpatients in hospitals, including 428 in intensive care units (ICUs).
The Ministry of Health on Monday reported 2,529 new cases and 31 deaths.
The total number of cases registered in the country has now reached 250,572, including 2,741 deaths.
The Sultan Qaboos University Hospital in Muscat has 82 patients in all categories, of which 37 of them are critical ICU patients. There are 45 patients who do not require non-invasive assisted ventilation.
The number of inpatients in the Dhofar Governorate is 42, including 15 in ICUs.
There have been reports of patients being rushed from one to hospital (both governments and private) due to lack of beds.
Both expatriates and citizens have lost lives recently as their relatives found it difficult to find hospital beds for treatment on time.
The ministry officials have told the Observer that the situation is highly worrying, and it will take some time before the positive results of mass vaccination are visible. “Till then people have no option, but show same commitment towards safety and preventive measures.”
“We get calls from relatives and colleagues of Covid-19 sick patients with requests for beds, most of them in serious condition which require hospitalisation. All private hospitals try to help each other by sharing information on vacant beds and ventilators, but the situation now calls for extreme caution,” senior officials of several private hospitals, said.
Meanwhile, a medical team for vaccination visited the headquarters of the Muscat Municipality in Darsait and Seeb as part of its programme to vaccinate government employees.
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