Bengaluru: Covid hospitalisations up, but recovery in three days

Covid

With the rise in number of Covid cases across the state, hospitalisations in Bengaluru have doubled over the last 10 days.

A total of 31 hospitalisations were recorded in the city till June 16, and the numbers gradually increased to 72 by June 27, according to the bulletin released by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

“On an average, we are recording 600 to 700 cases a day. Most of them are asymptomatic and are under home isolation. Though there are close to 60 Covid hospitalisations, most of them have got admitted themselves as a precautionary measure. And a majority of them are in private hospitals,” said Dr Trilok Chandra K V, BBMP special commissioner.

Of the 72 Covid hospitalisations as on Tuesday, 10 were in the ICU wards, three in high dependency unit and 59 in general beds.

Experts opine that the number of admissions in the ICU, ICU-Ventilator and HDU wards, is an indicator of the severity of the infection. “As the number of Covid cases increase, many patients, especially senior citisens and those with comorbidities opt for hospitalisation to feel reassured. Hence, admissions to general beds have seen an increase,” explained Dr M K Sudarshan, chairman of Karnataka’s Covid Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

He added that the situation was not alarming.

“The rise in Covid infections is not commensurate with the deaths reported. We will have to monitor the ICU admissions to understand the severity. As of now, the ICU admissions are low and hence there is nothing to worry about,” Dr Sudarshan said.

The BBMP officials opined that the duration of hospital stay was also relatively low. “According to information received, many patients are recovering in three days,” a senior BBMP official from the Mahadevapura zone said.

According to the report by the State Covid war room, though Bengaluru has reported 3,161 active cases between June 19 and June 26, only 13 cases were active for over seven days.