The demand for ICU and ventilators may come from either this set of 2,388 patients or from among patients already in hospital. Studies from other countries have suggested that around 80 per cent of Covid-19 patients have mild symptoms, 15 per cent need hospital care, and 5 per cent need ICU care. “Still, the rising requirement for ICU beds and ventilators is worrying,” said Sumit Ray, chairperson of critical care medicine at the Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon. The government has established dedicated hospitals with ICU beds and ventilators for Covid-19 patients but, Ray said, if the numbers of patients rise too quickly, they could overwhelm the hospitals. The health ministry has said 821 dedicated Covid-19 hospitals currently have 150,000 beds of which around 132,000 are isolation beds and nearly 18,000 are ICU beds while 1,898 Covid-19 health centres have 119,000 beds of which 109,200 are isolation beds and 9,800 ICU beds.

Source: The Telegraph May 07, 2020 23:48 UTC