Goa: 20% of TB hosp beds occupied by post-Covid cases

Panaji: The Chest and TB hospital at St Inez, since the past two months, has been seeing an increased number of patients coming for further treatment post recovering from Covid, as they are at risk of developing lung fibrosis.

About 20% of the hospital’s beds have been occupied by patients having post-covid respiratory complications, head of pulmonary medicine, GMC, Dr Durga Lawande said.

The hospital has 80-beds. It also caters to non-Covid diseases such as tuberculosis, multi-drug resistant TB, Chronic Obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and many other types of respiratory illnesses.

“Obviously, there has been a rise in patients needing treatment after their recovery and we treat them so that they don’t develop post-Covid lung complications or fibrosis. Many of the beds are getting filled with such patients,” Lawande said.

Patients who had severe Covid-19 pneumonia and were on ventilators will mostly require further hospitalisation to cut their risk of going into post-Covid respiratory complications, she said.

If not treated in time such patients face a huge risk of developing lung fibrosis, which is a permanent disability and leaves patients incapable of carrying out their normal routine. But most patients respond well to the treatment.