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Sick young people becoming oxygen-dependent
“There is a trend being seen of oxygen-dependency by young people who are becoming positive,” said the Director-General (DG) of Health Services, Dr. Asela Gunawardena.
As these people need support with oxygen, he reiterated that the health authorities have responded to this need quickly and are setting up wall oxygen facilities in high dependency units (HDUs) and general wards in selected hospitals such as Moratuwa, Kosgama and Navagamuwa with aid from the World Bank. These facilities will augment what is already available at the 10 hospitals dedicated to COVID-19 treatment.
The DG went onto explain that in earlier infections, those needing oxygen were the elderly and young people with co-morbidities. But now the trend is changing.
With regard to the availability of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds at the National Infectious Diseases Hospital (NIID), Angoda; the Colombo East (Mulleriyawa) Hospital, the Homagama Base Hospital; the Kotelawala Defence University (KDU) Hospital, Werahera; the Teldeniya Hospital; the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital; and the Welikanda Hospital, Dr. Gunawardena said that currently they are adequate.
Some buffer beds are also available at the Colombo South (Kalubowila) Teaching Hospital and the Colombo North (Ragama) Teaching Hospital, he said.
“We are appealing to the people not to let down their guard but take all precautions. We don’t want a massive burden on the hospital network which could also lead to patients with diseases other than COVID-19 being affected badly,” he said.
The DG said that while schools have been opened, the health authorities will take stock before giving the green light for universities to open.
“We will keep an eye on the situation and revise the decision about keeping schools open if a need arises,” he added.