Lockdown, survey reduce Covid cases in state: Experts

State recorded 10,290 cases on Sunday, lowest in past 15 days

The decline in hospital admissions is indicative of a drop in daily cases. For the past 2 days, the number of patients admitted has come down from 150 to 90. It is to be examined if daily cases continue to ease down for 5 more days

JAIPUR: A strict lockdown and an intensive door-to-door survey led to a drastic decline in daily Covid-19 cases in the state for the first time in past 15 days, experts said.

The state logged 10,290 Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the lowest in past 15 days when cases had surged up to as high as 18,298 a day, giving rise to hopes that the calamitous peak may be beginning to tail off in Rajasthan.

The daily cases since Friday also registered a drastic decline compared to the last seven days of April, when the pandemic had begun to creep into rural areas and major hospitals in the city were overrun with patients.

There was a widespread fear among doctors if the cases continued to surge ahead with the same speed, then daily oxygen demand, already short in supply, will shoot up manifold. However, the latest decline offers a lot of hope to the medical community.

Dr Ajeet Singh, a senior doctor with the SMS Hospital, said, “The decline in hospital admissions is indicative of a drop in daily cases. For the past two days, the number of patients admitted has come down from 150 to 90,” Singh said, adding that, “It is to be examined if daily cases continue to ease down for five more days.”

Dr Singh said that a slew of preventive measures have yielded results, including early detention of patients and lockdown that curbed the movement of people.

Experts believe that next few days will determine if the second wave has finally begun to wane. Dr Dheeraj Verma, deputy superintendent, Kanwatiya Hospital, said the decline can be attributed to lockdown and a strict ban on social and religious gatherings. He also added that the number of patients coming to the hospitals has reduced to a “good extent”.

Dr Raman Sharma, head of the department, medicine, SMS hospital, said strict implementation of the Covid-19 guidelines and fear factor among the public led to the declines in cases.

The Rajasthan government had announced ‘Jan Anushasan Pakhwada’ (public discipline week) from April 19 to

May 3 to curb the pandemic with restrictions, but cases continued to rise, following which from May 3 onwards, a “Red Alert” with heightened curbs was put in place. The state is under a strict lockdown now till May 24.

In addition to the curbs, an intensive door-to-door survey to identify people with ILI (influenza-like Illness) symptoms were undertaken in the state. So far, at least 70 million people have been reached with the help of local BLOS and Asha workers. People with ILI were regularly monitored with an oximeter and have been given a medical kit to ensure that their condition does not turn severe.

In addition to the rapid doorto-door survey, a Covid-19 care and consultation centre was established at community health centres (CHCS) to prevent the infection from spreading deeper into the rural and tribal areas of the state.

Meanwhile, state health minister Raghu Sharma has written to the centre to provide 50,000 vials of liposomal amphotericin B, a drug used for the treatment of black fungus.

“The government is making every effort to provide medicines prescribed for black fungal infections. The state is urgently in need of 50,000 vials of liposomal amphotericin. We have written a letter to Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan and demanded that the drug be made available,” said Sharma.

A senior official of the health department said the looking into the increasing number of black fungus cases, the state will soon start a separate ward and OPD at every medical college.