According to a news report published in DAWN, HMC administration said that they have had to stop admitting new coronavirus patients as they do not have enough beds at the moment.
Toueed Zulfiqar, the hospital’s spokesperson said that they had started referring patients to other hospitals. "We are not accepting new or referred patients at the moment as we are facing a shortage of beds and other facilities," he told the newspaper, adding that the hospital is currently focusing on catering to the needs of patients already under treatment.
According to Zulfiqar, the hospital has 90 beds in the isolation facility for Covid-19 patients, out of which 85 are already occupied. "For the past two weeks our patient inflow has increased almost three to four times," Zulfiqar added. The spokesperson attributed the increase to patients specifically seeking out the hospital after it started plasma therapy.
The Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) administration also said they were not facing a shortage of beds. In a statement, LRH Dean Professor Abdul Latif Khan said only 32 out of the 220-bed coronavirus complex was currently occupied. "Only 10 of these patients have tested positive for the virus while the remaining are suspected patients," he said, adding that 22 suspected and confirmed patients had also been admitted to the intensive care unit.
According to directives issued by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s health department, only patients showing serious symptoms should be admitted to hospitals while those with mild symptoms should self-isolate at home.