The number of Intensive Care Units (ICUs) kept prepared for treating the patients suffering from COVID-19 in Dhaka is only 67.

In total, there are only 105 ICUs across the country.

The ICU facilities are used to help critically ill patients breath through ventilators.

The officials of Director General of Health Services (DGHS) think the authorities need to do something immediately.

Kazi Saifuddin Bennur, also a heart disease specialist, said there is a membrane at the end of the lung. At one side of the membrane there is air and at the other side blood. Air provides blood with oxygen while the blood releases carbon dioxide that people exhales through breathing.

At the primary stage of COVID-19 the amount of oxygen decreases but the amount of carbon dioxide remains within a tolerable limit. In that stage it is enough to give oxygen to a patient. But in the second stage, the amount of oxygen inside the lung decreases and carbon dioxide increases. Then it needs to pump in oxygen inside the patient’s lung and pump out carbon dioxide. Putting the patient on ventilation, the physicians wait for the virus to be inactive.

According to DGHS, of the seven hospitals the government selected for treating the COVID-19 patients, only three have ICU facilities. There are 26 ICU beds at 200-bed at Bangladesh Kuwait Friendship Hospital, eight at 250-bed Sheikh Russel Gastroliver Institute and Hospital and 22 at 500-bed Kurmitola General Hospital. Outside of this, there are six ICU beds in Uttara and Mirpur branches of Regent Hospital and five ICU beds at Sajeda Foundation in Kanchpur, Narayanganj.

There is not a single ICU bed in 16 hospitals in Gopalganj, Faridpur, Manikganj, Shariatpur, and other parts of Dhaka district outside of Dhaka metro and Gazipur, Tangail Narsingdi and Madaripur. The situation is same in district hospitals at Barisal, Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions. However, there are 26 ICU beds in Mymensingh division and five in Khulna diabetic hospital.

In a bulletin on coronavirus situation in the country, DGHS director Abul Kalam Azad on Tuesday said they have been trying hard to increase the number of ventilators in the country.

The whole world is currently suffering from an acute shortage of ventilators. The UK has included Airbus and Rolls Royce in producing ventilators while the US has sought help of General Motors and Ford for this. Bangladesh’s Walton is likely to produce this life saving machine in the country with the help of Medtronic.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Bangladesh Private Clinics and Diagnostic Centre Owners Association president Moniruzzaman Bhuiyan said they are ready to help. But there are some shortcomings.

He said the number of ICUs in private hospitals is around 300. They want to begin their tasks once the government-designated hospitals get filled with patients. It is very dangerous to keep the COVID-19 patients at general ICUs since the disease is highly contagious.

A specialist told Prothom Alo that not all ICUs are suitable to treat these patients. A room with negative air pressure is required to treat the patients suffering from infectious diseases. It cannot be adjacent to other rooms and rooms where people come and go. The design of this room is also of special kind. Air could go out of the room but can’t enter. This is why there are questions about the utility of the ICUs of the designated hospitals.

Wishing anonymity, a DGHS source told Prothom Alo the time is flying. The source insisted on immediate action regarding ICUs. The sources also said there are ventilators in 424 upazila health complexes of the country, most of which are not used. There are 70 hospitals with 10, 20 and 30 beds. Some of those have got ventilators. The DGHS source insisted on utilizing those.

But there are questions about the effectiveness of those ventilators. For example, all of the 16-bed ICU facility of Faridpur Medical College Hospital is damaged since those remained unused for over five years for the lack of trained manpower.

* This report has been rewritten in English by Shameem Reza