E-Paper
5-10% Covid cases need hospitalisation at present, may change rapidly: Health secy to states
With Covid-19 cases seeing a rapid spike over the past few days, the Union health secretary urged states and UTs to keep a watch on the active caseload, besides hospitalisations and home isolations.
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Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Monday wrote to his counterparts in states and Union territories regarding the latest resurgence in coronavirus cases that he said appeared to be driven by the ‘variant of concern’ (VoC) Omicron and the continued presence of the other strain Delta.
Bhushan said in the present surge, five to 10 per cent of active cases have required hospitalisation so far. He, however, warned that the situation is dynamic and evolving, and the need for hospitalisation may change rapidly.
He said during the second surge of Covid infections in the country, the percentage of active cases that needed hospital care were in the range of 20-23 per cent
The senior officer urged authorities in all states and UTs to keep a watch on the situation of the total number of active cases, those under home isolation, and patients requiring oxygen beds, ICU beds and ventilation support.
The ministry said that based on this monitoring, the requirement of healthcare workers and their availability should be reviewed on a daily basis.
It also asked the state and UT authorities to conserve healthcare workers by working out at staggered mode of work as both infrastructure and human resources have their limitations.
It is also important to strictly follow the January 9 advisory, issued by the health ministry, for managing healthcare workers in Covid and non-Covid areas of healthcare facilities, Bhushan said.
He further said states and Union Territories should earmark different categories of beds in private clinical establishments for Covid care.
He also suggested engaging retired medical professionals or MBBS students for teleconsultation services and providing skill training of community volunteers in basic care and management at Covid Care Centres.
The country recorded 1,79,723 cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the last 24 hours as the Omicron variant continued to spread rapidly in the country. According to the data published by the Union ministry of health and family welfare, the number of active cases breached the 700,000-mark.
This is the fourth day when India’s daily tally has remained above the 1-lakh mark.
