Abbottabad hospitals fear capacity issues

ATH medical director says PCR lab fully functional

ABBOTTABAD: Doctors working at the largest tertiary care hospital in Abbottabad have voiced fears of exposure to the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and reaching capacity with around 70 per cent of the dedicated ward already full.

“This month of June and July would be a difficult time,” warned Dr Ahsan Aurangzeb, the medical director at the Ayub Teaching Hospital (ATH) in Abbottabad on Tuesday.

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He added that so far, 29 doctors and 19 nurses at the facility have so far tested positive for the Covid-19. Of these, 12 doctors and six nurses have recovered.

Briefing the media about the latest situation on Covid-19 via a video message, Dr Aurangzeb said that 70% of wards are occupied at the moment, heightening the risk of transmission to hospital employees, including doctors and nurses.

He added that patients either admitted to the hospital or those visiting its outpatient departments do not generally follow the standing operating procedures (SOPs) prescribed by the government on social distancing and face masks.

In this regard, he disclosed that some 897 patients displaying symptoms of Covid-19 have been examined in the OPDs of ATH, of which 153 patients were admitted in hospital.

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“Around 56 of those patients tested positive and 26 of them are still admitted in the hospital,” he said, adding that eight patients remain in critical condition.

The medical director said they have had 18 Covid-19 associated fatalities at the facility while 12 patients have recovered. The newly established PCR laboratory for Covid-19 at ATH, Dr Aurangzeb said, is fully functional and has so far conducted some 2,400 tests. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 3^rd, 2020.