According to the state Covid dashboard, Ahmedabad district had 24,127 active cases a week ago, which came down to 7,349 – recording a drop of 70%. It was one of the highest drops among the districts of Gujarat. To put the figure in perspective, Gujarat recorded a drop of 52% in one week.
“The drop is almost as sharp as the rise for Ahmedabad – the city where it was difficult to find a bed today has about 20% bed occupancy for Covid-19 patients in private hospitals. Even for the critical care treatment (ICU and ventilator beds) occupancy is about 50-60%,” said a city-based hospital administrator. “It’s difficult to pinpoint the exact reason for the steady drop, but it’s to do with the bulk of patients completing seven days and reduction in overall hospitalization period.”
On the other hand, mucormycosis has remained a concern for the authorities. Experts said that compared to Covid-19, the turnaround time for mucormycosis beds is at least four to five times longer. “Overall, about 30% of the patients have got discharged from facilities like Civil Hospital. Majority of the patients require multiple procedures and observation,” said an ENT surgeon. “It takes anything between 10 to 40 days for a patient to go back home.”
According to Civil Hospital authorities, the campus has over 500 active patients of mucormycosis – accounting for one-fourth of the state’s total cases.