With just two government hospitals in Bengaluru currently accepting Covid-19 patients, most of the infected people are going to private hospitals, which have started to register increased numbers in the past one week. Most of the admitted, however, have mild symptoms.
While the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has recorded an increase in government quota hospitalisations from three to six per day in the last 14 days, a greater buildup in case admissions to private hospitals has been noted, where the average daily admission rate rose from 21 to 26.
The BBMP added that most of the new patients were seeking non-ventilator beds. This was corroborated by Dr H M Srikanth Helawar, nodal officer for Covid-19 at Bowring and Lady Curzon Medical College and Research Institute, who said most admissions were people above 45.
Data shows that out of 296 admissions to private hospitals in the last 14 days (compared to just 38 to government hospitals), 105 were people aged 60 and above, followed by 100 people aged 19 to 40, and 67 aged between 41 and 60.
“Although these people have mild symptoms and they have been allotted general beds, they chose to come to the hospital because their saturation levels had dropped to 90,” Dr Helawar said.
This drop in saturation levels could be worrisome because it could drive large-scale hospital admissions even if most cases have mild symptoms.
“Our concern is that due to Omicron’s higher infectivity, if case numbers surge there may not be sufficient beds to handle a large onset of hospital arrivals,” added Dr Radhakrishna H D R, medical superintendent at C V Raman General Hospital, which was designated as the city’s second Covid-19 hospital on December 30.
Officials expressed concern that a public panic in the event of a surge, which, like in the beginning of the second wave, could be witness to unnecessary hospitalisations which came at the cost of depriving critically ill patients.
Health Commissioner D Randeep noted that triaging activities will become more focused if cases surge.
“At the moment, they may not have been a focus because hospitalisations are still manageable and we have an adequate number of beds at the present. Ten days down the line, this may change and so there is a plan to deploy at least one physical triaging unit in every district to verify some of the tele-triaging activities which is covering 100 per cent of new cases,” he said.
The government is also discussing the allocation of beds in the private sector for government quota beds as it did during the first and second waves.
While the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that the medical profession should not be operating on the principle that Omicron will be mild, several doctors in the city said they have no idea what to expect if there is a surge in cases.
How severe is Omicron? As per the 66 official Omicron cases in Karnataka made public to date, 32 per cent had at least mild symptoms.
Hospitalisations
A total of 256 of the 334 hospital admissions in BBMP limits (including both government and private quota) in the last 14 days were people occupying general beds. A further 40 were admitted to HDU beds and 35 to ICU beds, with the conditions of a scant three being serious enough to warrant admission to an ICU-Ventilator bed.
Surprisingly, 93 of the general bed occupations were by patients aged 19 to 40, with another 78 being people aged 60 and above.
Of the 35 ICU bed hospitalisations, the most (22) were people over the age of 60, with the next largest group being seven people aged 19 to 40.
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