65% of current active cases under treatment in hospitals

Even as Covid cases are dropping and recovery rate is at 98.16%, most positive patients seek oxygen or ICU beds

THANE: Around 65% of the 441 current active cases are seeking treatment in hospitals while the remaining 35% are in home isolation.

Among the 65% seeking treatment in hospitals, more than 28% are in Intensive Care Unit or on oxygen beds while 2.9% are on ventilators. Another 33% are under observation in Dedicated Covid Health Centres where serious or patients with complicated cases are admitted. Hardly 0.9% is admitted to Covid Care Centres that are quarantine centres.

The number of Covid cases is decreasing with each passing day and the city is currently recording 98.16% recovery rate. However, most of the positive cases recorded continue to seek oxygen or ICU beds.

A senior officer from TMC said, “With monsoon-related illnesses on the rise, sometimes people take the symptoms lightly causing delay in getting medical attention. In such instances, the positive patients have to get admitted and need oxygen support.”

Vipin Sharma, TMC commissioner, said, “Currently, we have 7% occupancy in ICU and 2.1% occupancy for oxygen beds. The active patients are reducing and the overall growth rate of Covid cases in the last one week is 0.03%. We have observed during the onset of the second wave that fatalities were more when positive patients sought medical help more than a week after they noticed symptoms. It is essential to understand one’s symptoms and reach out to a medical practitioner for proper care even in home quarantine. We have TMC’s dedicated call centre that keeps a tab on all patients. Through this, if we notice any symptoms, we reach out to the patients’ family and ask them to get admitted.”

TMC has a total of 9,163 beds. Among these, 4,166 are Dedicated Covid Hospitals or Dedicated Covid Health Centres. Around 2,723 beds are with oxygen support; 975 are ICU beds, 895 Covid Care Centres and 404 ventilators. While the occupancy of ventilators and Covid Care Centres is the least at 13 patients and 4 patients, respectively, the Dedicated Covid Hospitals or healthcare centres have 147 patients.

Currently, the city has an overall bed occupancy of only 4%. In mid-April, when the cases were at the peak, 80% beds were occupied. A shortage of beds and oxygen was also witnessed during the second wave. As per the state government guidelines, any municipal corporation needs to ensure that there is around 15% availability of beds from among the total positive cases. However, it has been noticed that Thane city had a 30% demand for beds in both the first and second waves.

Dr Sanjay Pingulkar, general physician, said, “Unlike earlier, when it was difficult to make provisions for so many beds and oxygen facility, currently there are facilities available and it becomes natural for positive patients to get admitted. However, if compared to earlier, the numbers continue to remain lower to those who are in ICU or under oxygen support. This is due to the evolved medical practices surrounding Covid-19. Along with home quarantine for those who have mild symptoms, if we continue to maintain social distance, sanitise and wear masks at all times, we can avoid a panic situation in case of a probable third wave.”

If we continue to maintain social distance, sanitise and wear masks, we can avoid panic situation.

DR SANJAY PINGULKAR, general physician

PRAFUL GANGURDE/HT With 4% bed occupancy, a majority of the beds are vacant, like these at Global Hospital, Thane.