THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Incidents of Covid-19 patients brought dead pose challenges for health authorities in the district. Health officials say this can be attributed to home-isolated patients ignoring their symptoms instead of seeking help
While the Covid-19 caseload is coming down in the district, the health authorities are facing another challenge -- Covid patients brought dead. Of the 594 Covid deaths reported so far in the district, 46 were brought dead. And many of them were youngsters.According to health authorities, people under home isolation ignore symptoms and decide to stay home instead of seeking help at a hospital. Though the daily case count has dropped, the same cannot be said about the number of deaths. An average of 10 Covid deaths are being reported daily in Thiruvananthapuram, but the actual number is not declared officially, sources said.
“The respective medical officers are in touch with every positive patient under home isolation in their jurisdiction. Patients can also get in touch with the medical officer if they face any complication,” said a senior official with the health department.
People attempt to treat their symptoms at home because of misconceptions, leading to complications, the official said. “It’s always better to consult a doctor even if the symptom is minor as home isolation is advised for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients.”
Severe post-Covid issues encountered by some patients make it imperative to take all symptoms seriously. “A majority of those who succumbed to Covid-19 are elderly persons and those with severe comorbidities. A small section comprises young people or those with no comorbidity. They may not have any severe symptom either. As such deaths are unexpected, the situation is alarming,” the official added.
The case fatality rate (CFR) in Thiruvananthapuram is 0.77 per cent which is way higher compared to the CFR in Kerala -- 0.39 per cent. “Ninety per cent of people who contracted Covid-19 are fine. But the remaining 10 per cent is not a negligible number,” the official said. “Social distancing norms are not being followed and protocol violations are happening everywhere. People are taking the disease very lightly.”
Confounding matters, people who die of other causes are also testing positive for Covid-19. Officials site a lack of adequate medical care at hospitals as one of the reasons for the increase in death cases.
Postmortem to study in detail
Deputy superintendent of the Government Medical College Hospital Dr Santhosh said the state should do more postmortems to study in detail the actual causes of unexpected deaths.
High infectivity rate
The high infectivity rate among healthcare workers is also turning into a discouraging factor. As many as 2,200 healthcare workers in the district have tested positive for the coronavirus infection so far while the statewide figure stands at 10,200.