Active Covid case count up from 92 to 236 in 23 days

Experts underline need to stay on guard, arrange resources

LUCKNOW: The number of active Covid-19 cases in Uttar Pradesh has gone up from 92 on December 1 to 236 on Thursday, a rise of 156% in 23 days, according to health department data and experts say it’s time to remain vigilant to ensure resources are adequately arranged for any situation. Active cases refer to the number of patients currently under treatment.

The number of active cases in the state capital also increased from 16 on December 1 to 48 on Thursday.

“It’s time to adhere strictly to the same preventive measures that were in place during the lockdown. If we wish to stop the spread of cases, the level of prevention and precaution should be same as during the lockdown period,” said Dr Samir Misra, senior faculty, King George’s Medical University (KGMU).

“People need to understand the methods or stopping infection spread such as distance and use of mask, and follow (them),” said Dr Misra of the department of trauma surgery.

“Covid cases do not multiply mathematically (in the ratio of 2 cases to 4 to 8 cases) but they multiply geometrically (from 2 cases to 4 to 16 cases). Hence, even if (there is) a single new case, utmost attention should be paid to contact tracing,” said Prof Kauser Usman, senior faculty at KGMU. Uttar Pradesh’s lowest active Covid case count of 83, since the second wave in April, was recorded on November 6 and 8. The maximum 3,09,237 active cases in the state was recorded on April 29.

“Lucknow being the state capital is visited every day by thousands of people from the neighbouring districts. This is one risk factor for spreading the infection. Hence, the screening of people at all entry points is important,” said Dr Abhishek Shukla, secretary general, Association of International Doctors.

Oxygen plants

At least 20 new oxygen generation plants were installed in Lucknow since the second wave when the need for oxygen increased. Oxygen generation plants at 22 different hospitals have been installed with a collective capacity of 14,988 litres per hour, according to data.

This is apart from the liquid oxygen plants at medical institutes and hospitals of over one lakh litres capacity.

“The need for oxygen was significant during the second wave of Covid. Keeping hospitals ready with oxygen generation plants will help,” said Dr PK Gupta, former president of the Indian Medical Association, Lucknow.

Across Uttar Pradesh, 530 oxygen plants were made functional by December 1 at government health facilities.

Availability of beds

Only three Covid patients are admitted in hospitals in Lucknow at present. But keeping in view the rise in Covid cases and threat of the new variant Omicron, a number of beds has been identified in different Covid facilities in the state capital.

“At present, 4000 beds in over a dozen hospitals have been identified for Covid patients and linked with the dashboard of the Integrated Covid Command Centre for real-time monitoring,” said Dr Manoj Agrawal, the chief medical officer of Lucknow. Another 5000 beds can be obtained for Covid patients at a notice of 24 to 48 hours.

In the state, 1.80 lakh beds can be made available collectively across 75 districts in different hospitals, according to officials.