E-Paper
Covid third wave prep: PMC appoints 6 paediatricians
PMC data reveals that in the first and second Covid waves, the number of children with Covid-19 fell from 11.15% to 9.94%
Although the number of Covid-19 cases has gone down, the administration is preparing for a third wave.
The PMC has appointed six paediatricians full time, and is preparing to appoint additional paediatricians on a contract basis.
Dr Ashish Bharti, chief medical officer at the PMC health department said, “Despite Covid-19 wave receding, we are still preparing for the third wave which was anticipated to affect children the most. We have appointed six full time paediatricians at our hospitals and have also processed the appointment of additional paediatricians in case there is a surge in the number of Covid-19 cases. We have paediatricians that will cater to the paediatric requirements in civic hospitals.”
PMC data reveals that in the first and second Covid waves, the number of children with Covid-19 fell from 11.15% to 9.94%.
Although the absolute number of Covid-19 patients aged under the age of 18 was more in the second wave than the first, in terms of a percentage of overall cases, the number is lower in the second wave.
As per PMC data, the first Covid-19 wave which lasted from May 2020 to October 2020 saw 200,00 patients of which 22,792 were aged below 18 year. This accounts for 11.15% of the patient population.
Of these 22,000 patients, 31 died and 22,761 recovered.
However in the second wave, between March and October 2021, 298,000 patients were reported, of which 29,661 were below the age of 18, which is 9.94% of the patient population.
In the second wave, deaths due to the infection among children was also lower, 26. The case fatality rate in the first wave was 0.14% and in the second wave it was 0.09%.
Currently, 141 active Covid-19 patients are aged under 18, of the 1,003 active cases reported in the city on Sunday.
