More than 70% of Covid-19 patients in home isolation: NHM Director

More than 70 per cent of the active Covid-19 patients including ministers and bureaucrats are undergoing home isolation and treatment in their houses in Odisha, a senior Health Department official said on Friday.

Director, National Health Mission (NHM), Shalini Pandit during a press briefing here said that the state is now witnessing a peak in Covid-19 cases.

The patients, who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms, are allowed to go for home isolation. "Nearly 70 per cent of positive cases are now under home isolation including senior officers, MLAs and ministers", she added.

While encouraging home isolation, Pandit said: "An extensive research by experts has found that all patients do not need hospitalisation, rather the recovery rate is higher in home isolation."

Of the state's 21 ministers, eight have tested positive for Covid-19 and many of them are under home isolation, the official said.

She also said that the positivity rate is low in Odisha while the recovery rate is high here.

Pandit said about 50,000 sample tests are now being tested in the state per day and the Covid-19 fatality rate in Odisha is one of the lowest in the country.

Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy said a large number of Covid-19 positive persons are isolating at home with no or mild symptoms.

The chief secretary tweeted "Large no of Covid positive persons are isolating at home with no or mild symptoms. Local admin is monitoring their health status.Health Experts will speak from today through TV channels with detailed advice how to self-monitor & protocols to follow if symptoms show."

Meanwhile, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner P C Chaudhury claimed that the capital city is now experiencing a decline in fresh detection of new cases from 400 plus daily to 300 plus despite an increase in sample testing.

He said the daily sample tests in the city are now within 4,000 to 4500 in the last one week. The BMC commissioner said the recovery rate in the state capital is 74 per cent and the situation will improve further in the coming days.

"Testing on demand is available and peopled are getting themselves tested in private labs and government CHCs and PHCs," he said.

Chaudhury said about 73.5 per cent of Covid-19 positive cases are in home isolation. "We have 54 RRT (rapid response team) teams with 18 in each ward to monitor them. Helplines no 1929 have been opened round-the-clock for the last 15 days. Active surveillance is being carried out in 20 non-slum areas by 210 teams," he said.

Chaudhury said that the hospital situation was comfortable in the capital city, as a total of 445 ICUs and 2,500 general beds are available in private hospitals. Squads have been formed to monitor treatment of Covid-19 patients in these hospitals, he added.

Bhubaneswar, which first reported its Covid-19 case on March 15, has so far reported a total of 17,925 Covid-19 cases, he said.

Meanwhile, the BMC imposed Containment Zone restriction in the Bhubaneswar Judicial complex area from September 19 to 25 after several positive cases were detected in the civil court, a notification said, adding that office of the sub-collector, Bhubaneswar, Tehasildar, Bhubaneswar and District Sub Registrar office are excluded from the restrictions.