Data: How many hospital beds and ventilators does south India have?

A study shows that at least 2.3% of COVID-19 patients require ventilator support, while 5% required treatment in the ICU.

Coronavirus Coronavirus

The world grimly watched on as Italy dealt with a flood of COVID-19 patients, with hospitals having to ration beds, doctors having to make life-or-death decisions - who gets a ventilator, a life-saving device and who doesn’t.

One study shows that at least 2.3% of COVID-19 patients required ventilator support in China, while 5% required treatment in the intensive care unit. The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the COVID-19 disease affects a person’s respiratory system, leading to breathing difficulties among other symptoms. As India braces itself, the question is does the country have enough ventilators and beds to deal with an influx of COVID-19 patients.

Based on March 31 COVID-19 status report from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), India has 34,083 isolation beds, 2531 ICU beds, and 6704 ventilators. However, these figures are based only on dedicated treatment facilities for COVID-19 and do not count facilities at other government hospitals or private hospitals.

Meanwhile, a report by Brookings Institution, a US-based public policy organisation, estimates that India has 0.55 beds available in government hospitals per 1000 population. With the elderly more susceptible to COVID-19, the report estimates that based on India’s elderly population, there would be 5.18 beds available per 1000 population. The report notes, “The availability of government beds is abysmally low in India, and an epidemic like coronavirus can very quickly complicate the problem even further.” It concludes by recommending that the Indian government rope in the private healthcare players to create excess capacity, and additionally setting up hospital beds in army camps as an emergency measure.

Incidentally, the World Health Organisation (WHO), has pegged India at 0.7 beds per 1000 population. In comparison, China has 4.2 beds per 1000 population, the US has 2.9 beds per 1000 population and Italy 3.4 beds per population, according to WHO.

Let’s take a look at the medical facilities in the south Indian states to tackle COVID-19.

Andhra Pradesh

According to the MoHFW’s March 31 report, Andhra Pradesh has two dedicated treatment facilities - Siddhartha Medical College (SMC) in Vijayawada and Padmavathi MC in Tirupati, with 750 isolation beds each. That’s a total capacity of 1500 isolation beds, as per MoHFW.

However, based on data released by the Andhra Pradesh government, the state has 16,723 isolation beds presently and has ordered 5000 more beds to be set-up. While the Union Health Ministry has no data as far as ventilators or ICU beds go in Andhra, the state government’s figures show that it has 484 ICU beds and 148 ventilators. In its report, the Andhra government has said that 148 of these ventilator beds are across its four main hospitals - Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences in Visakhapatnam, Siddhartha medical College in Vijayawada, Government General Hospital in Nellore and Padmavathi in Tirupati, and was planning to increase it to 444 ventilators soon. The 484 ICU beds are spread across 17 hospitals in the state, with plans to increase it to 959.

The Brookings Institution report, which combined data for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, noted that Andhra was in the red as far as beds available in government hospitals. It was well below the national average with 0.3 beds per 1000 population, while there would be 3.8 beds available for the elderly per 1000 population.

Karnataka

The state has one dedicated treatment facility - the Victoria Medical Hospital in Bengaluru, as per the MoHFW report. The hospital is equipped with 1200 isolation beds, 15 ICU beds and 20 ventilators.

The Karnataka government is yet to release data on the overall number of isolation beds that the state has, to tackle the pandemic. However, officials say that the state has 1200 ventilators in government and private hospitals. Out of this, Bengaluru has 700 ventilators.

As per the Brookings report, Karnataka is above the national average with 1.1 beds per 1000 population. Among the southern states, it has the highest beds available for senior citizens above the age of 60 with 8.6 beds per 1000 population.

Kerala

Kerala, as per the Union Ministry’s data, has three dedicated COVID-19 treatment facilities in Ernakulam, Kozhikode and Kannur, with a combined capacity of 1000 isolation beds. The report makes no mention of ICU beds or ventilators in the state.

As per a March 19 report in Economic Times, Kerala had 3600 beds spread across 22 hospitals that were dedicated for COVID-19 patients. Kerala Chief Minister at a press conference on March 26 expressed confidence that the state would be able to tackle any situation arising out of the COVID-19 pandemic. He also said that besides government hospitals, the state has 879 private hospitals with 69,434 beds and 5,507 beds in ICU. With regard to ventilators, some reports suggest that Kerala has 3000, others have pegged it at 5000.

Kerala has 1.0 beds available at government hospitals per 1000 population, states the Brookings report. As far as bed availability for the elderly go, Kerala has 7.4 beds available per 1000 population.

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu has one dedicated treatment facility in Chennai - the Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital at Omandurar Government Estate, which has a current capacity of 300 isolation beds, as per the MoHFW.

However, as per the Tamil Nadu Health Department’s data on April 2, the state has 22,049 beds in isolation wards and 3371 ventilators. This includes both government and private hospitals. The state government has also placed an order for an additional 2500 ventilators, said Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami recently.

Like Karnataka and Kerala, Tamil Nadu is above the national average as far as available beds go, with 1.1 beds per 1000 population, reports Brookings Institution. Senior citizens have 7.8 beds available per 1000 population

Telangana

According to the Union Health Ministry, Telangana has 11 dedicated treatment facilities in the state with a capacity of 4157 isolation beds, 600 ICU beds and 275 ventilators. This includes the 1500-bed COVID-19 ward at Gachibowli sports complex in Hyderabad.

The state presently has 11,000 isolation beds, with 1400 ICU beds and has placed orders for an additional 500 ventilators. The state is also looking to increase its capacity to 60,000 beds.