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Hospitalisations up, but most not from Delhi, doctors say

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | By
Aug 30, 2020 05:13 AM IST

The average number of Covid-19 cases being reported in Delhi each day has increased to 1,621 in the seven day-period ending August 29, compared to 1,018 cases reported on average in the first week of the month, data shows.

The steady rise in the number of new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases recorded in the city has also led to a rise in the number of hospitalisations, with over 900 more beds occupied on Saturday than at the start of the month.

Medical staff wearing PPE suits seen outside Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in New Delhi.(Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)
Medical staff wearing PPE suits seen outside Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital in New Delhi.(Raj K Raj/HT PHOTO)

The Capital added 1,954 more infections on Saturday and 3,966 are currently admitted in the city’s hospitals. To be sure, Delhi still has 10,177 free Covid-19 beds.

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Doctors and hospital officials said this increase has largely been driven by patients from neighbouring states, especially Uttar Pradesh. Clinicians from large multi-speciality hospitals in Delhi and Gurugram said between 70% and 90% of Covid-19 patients admitted in their hospitals are not from Delhi-NCR.

“A large proportion of people are coming to Delhi hospitals from other states for Covid-19 treatment. I would say more than 80% of my patients are from outside Delhi, especially from Uttar Pradesh. Two months back, almost all my patients were from Delhi-NCR [National Capital Region],” said Dr Nevin Kishore, head of the bronchology department at Max hospital, Saket.

The average number of Covid-19 cases being reported in Delhi each day has increased to 1,621 in the seven day-period ending August 29, compared to 1,018 cases reported on average in the first week of the month, data shows.

On Friday, 3,966 people with Covid-19 were in hospitals in Delhi, according to the daily health bulletin, compared to 2,979 on August 1. In effect, almost 29% of the total active cases in Delhi are admitted in hospitals.

“We are now getting a lot of calls for admissions from outside Delhi. More than half my patients are not residents of Delhi. After a dip, admissions started going up from the beginning of the month, simultaneously with an increase in the number of cases in UP and Bihar. Most Delhi patients are in home isolation,” said Dr Rajeev Chawla, consulting pulmonologist at Indraprastha Apollo hospital.

Over 7,000 in Delhi were isolating at home as on Saturday.

Dr Kishore said, “After a dip in July, our ICUs are full again, this time mostly with patients from neighbouring states.”

While movement between states was restricted during the lockdown period, the Unlock 1.0 guidelines, which came into effect in June, removed those curbs.

A Delhi government spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

“Earlier, all our Covid-19 patients were from Delhi itself. But now, a large portion — at least 40%, are from outside. Patients are being brought in from neighbouring states like UP, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan,” said Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent, AIIMS.

However, the large super-speciality private hospitals such as Max and Apollo are running out of ICU beds.

As on Friday noon, 93.9% of the intensive care unit beds with ventilators were occupied in large superspeciality hospitals and 75.8% non-ventilator ICU beds were occupied, according to data from the ‘Delhi Corona’ app.

“There has been a slight increase in the number of cases being reported from Haryana and Delhi, but it is not substantial enough to account for the number of admissions. Almost 90% of my patients are from either Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, or Punjab. This is because of the dismal healthcare infrastructure in these states. The number of local admissions has flattened. Also, we are receiving the very sick patients who have either travelled from far or have been referred from other hospitals,” said Dr Yatin Mehta, head, emergency services at Medanta hospital in Gurugram.

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  • ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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    Anonna Dutt is a health reporter at Hindustan Times. She reports on Delhi government’s health policies, hospitals in Delhi, and health-related feature stories.

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