5-10 percent of active COVID-19 cases need hospitalisation at present, situation evolving: Centre

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Five to ten per cent of the active COVID-19 cases needed hospitalisation in the present surge, said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Monday, adding that the situation is dynamic and evolving therefore the need for hospitalization may also change rapidly.

Bhushan has advised all states and Union Territories to keep watch on the situation of the total number of active cases, cases under home isolation, hospitalized cases, cases on oxygen beds, ICU and ventilation support.

“During the second surge of Covid cases in the country, it was seen that the percentage of active cases that needed hospitalized care were in the range of 20-23 per cent. In the present surge, 5-10 per cent of active cases have needed hospitalisation so far. The situation is dynamic and evolving, therefore the need for hospitalization may also change rapidly,” he said in a letter to States/UTs.

“All states and Union Territories are advised to keep watch on the situation of the total number of active cases, cases under home isolation, hospitalized cases, cases on oxygen beds, ICU and ventilation support. Based on this monitoring, requirement of Health Care Workers (HCWs) and their availability, health facility wise must also be reviewed on a daily basis as was done during the second surge,” he stated.

The Health Secretary said that the rise in COVID-19 cases in various parts of the country appears to be driven by the variant of concern “Omicron” and the continued presence of another VoC “Delta”, and stressed on augmenting human resources, particularly healthcare workers for Covid management.

While various states and Union Territories have initiated steps for the establishment of jumbo health facilities, field hospitals, temporary hospitals among etc, it must be appreciated that both infrastructure and human resources have their limitations, he said.

“Therefore, it is important to conserve healthcare workers by initiating staggering wherever possible and by restricting elective procedures in the hospitals. It is also important to strictly follow the advisory for managing healthcare workers in Covid and non-Covid areas of healthcare facilities issued by the Health Ministry on January 9, 2022,” the Health Secretary said in the letter.

“It must also be ensured that charges levied by such health facilities are reasonable and there is a mechanism to monitor and initiate action in cases of over-charging if any,” Bhushan said in the letter.

Meanwhile, India reported 1,79,723 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 13.29 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.

A total of 4,033 cases of the Omicron variant of coronavirus have been reported so far.