5-10% Covid cases require hospitalisation: Govt

New Delhi, January 10

The cases during the third Covid-19 wave are likely to cross the peak of the second wave but the country is better prepared to handle the surge, top government sources said on Monday as daily cases neared 1.8 lakh (1,79,723) and active cases rose to 7,23,619 against 5,90,611 yesterday.

Editorial: Oxygen preparedness

At the height of the second wave in 2021, India had recorded 4.40 lakh new cases on May 7, the highest since the onset of the pandemic.

Booster dose drive kicks off

New Delhi: Over 9 lakh 60-plus citizens and frontline as well as health workers were given their third Covid jab on Monday as India began administering a “precautionary” dose against the infection.

Panchkula positivity 42%

The positivity rate in Panchkula district on Monday shot up to 42.10% — an all-time high. With the district logging 344 fresh cases, the active Covid caseload increased to 1,622.

Better prepared this time: Health Ministry

• Medical oxygen capacity has doubled (to 19, 236 MT a day) since second wave
• 25 districts of concern, including Gurugram from region, being monitored daily

151 cr vaccine doses administered

• 92% adults (86.08 cr) given first dose, 67% (63.20 cr) both doses
• 31% teens (2.29 cr) given first dose

Sources cited Covid surge worldwide (the US reporting nearly 8 lakh cases a day, France 3 lakh, UK 2 lakh) to say that India is “bound to cross 4.40 lakh daily cases but there is no cause for panic as preparation this time is two to three times better as compared to 2021”. Omicron infection has so far not taken a severe form in India. Of the 4,031 cases as of today, 40 per cent (1,552) have recovered.

Hospitalisation rate during the current surge is between 5 and 10 per cent as against 20 to 23 per cent during the second wave, and a majority of the cases show the potential of treatment through home isolation.

“In the present surge, 5 to 10 per cent of the active cases have needed hospitalisation, but the situation is evolving. Therefore the need for hospitalisation may also change rapidly,” Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and UTs today.

Bhushan also asked states and UTs to earmark private hospital beds for Covid care and create mechanisms to ensure private facilities do not overcharge patients.

The Health Secretary’s letter was issued on a day when Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya reviewed Covid status with state health ministers. Although largely mild (hospitalisation rate is one-fourth of the second wave), the current surge can’t be taken lightly because the sheer volume of case numbers can overwhelm the health system, the Health Ministry said. — TNS

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