Few Covid patients in Delhi need critical care, oxygen: Doctors

Even amid a slight uptick in Covid-19 cases in the national capital, the number of hospitalised patients continues to be marginal, with even fewer requiring critical care, oxygen and ventilator support, said health experts in Delhi.

Delhi government data shows that on Saturday, of 3,705 active cases in the city, only 101 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals. This means that nearly 99% of Delhi’s 9,489 hospital beds are vacant.

Of the 101 patients hospitalised, only 29 were in intensive care units (ICU), 19 required oxygen support and four critically ill patients required ventilator support. On Friday, of the 94 patients admitted to dedicated Covid hospitals, 28 patients were in the ICU, 21 were on oxygen support and two patients needed to be put on ventilators.

Senior officials of the Delhi government’s health department said that over 90% of people being admitted to hospitals are either senior citizens, largely aged above 75, or those who have serious pre-existing medical conditions, such as cancer, tumours and lung and kidney problems.

“In the Omicron wave in December and January too, we saw low hospital admissions compared to the previous waves. This time, it is even lower, even though we have not reached a wave yet. The patients who are in hospitals are those whose medical condition even without Covid was critical and those who have died of the infection are also those who had serious co-morbid conditions,” said a senior health official.

Health experts also said there is no cause for panic as long as hospital admissions are low. They, however, pointed out that following Covid appropriate behaviour was essential to ensure senior citizens and vulnerable sections are protected.

“Delhi has reached a point where an ample number of people have already been infected and have attained a certain level of antibodies. The vaccination rate is also pretty high in the Capital. The low hospital admissions are a good sign, but we need to be cautious for the safety of the vulnerable sections, people with co-morbidities and older people,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at the Safdarjung Hospital.

According to the bulletin released, Delhi added 1,094 infections on Saturday, against 1,042 cases the previous day.

There was no change in the positivity rate (sample of tests that return a positive result) nearly remained the same, with 4.82% samples of the 22,714 tests conducted returning positive.

Two people also died of Covid on Saturday.

With Saturday’s numbers, Delhi’s cumulative case count has reached 1,873,793, and the cumulative case positivity rate 4.97%.