BENGALURU: Bogged down by the surging numbers, the health authorities are now working on a plan to cut the time taken to provide treatment to Covid-19 patients, specially the high-risk category. Laboratories conducting the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RTPCR) tests on samples will be directed to mention the Cycle Threshold (CT) level in the test reports, which will give an indication of the viral load among positive patients.
The move is likely to help provide timely treatment to critical patients and minimise mortality, especially at a time when deaths due to Covid-19 have almost doubled from 470 on July 8 to 928 on July 15.
This has happened mainly due to late reporting at hospitals. The CT level, along with symptoms and comorbidities, will help doctors decide which Covid-19-positive individuals need more urgent medical attention than others — a process called triaging. Senior IAS officer Dr Trilok Chandra, who heads the Covid- 19 Critical Care Support Committee, said directives will be issued to laboratories conducting the RT-PCR tests on Thursday.
Late reporting a major reason for fatality spurt
Dr CN Manjunath, Director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, who is also a member of Covid-19 lab testing team, said, “The CT levels indicate if the viral load is high, mild or moderate. But the intensity of symptoms, based on viral load, varies from person to person. Symptomatic patients with high viral load need to be more carefully supervised. However, some people with higher viral load can also be asymptomatic. There is no correlation with high viral load and intensity of symptoms. The CT level is one of the indicators.”
Dr Trilok Chandra stressed, “CT triaging will help quicker and more precise treatment.” He and his team are closely monitoring the treatment of high-risk cases. Of the 14,128 patients in the high-risk category, 4,145 have been discharged (as of Tuesday). Senior citizens, children aged below 10 years and those with comorbidities, who have tested positive for Covid-19 are categorised as high-risk cases who require more urgent attention from specialists.
The officer also expressed concern over late reporting, which is one of the main reasons for deaths among Covid-19 patients. Of the 87 deaths reported on Wednesday, most of them died just two-three days after being admitted to hospitals. The top priority is to get Covid patients to hospitals as early as possible and door-to-door survey is being conducted to identity people with Influenza-Like Illness, Severe Acute Respiratory Illness, and people with untreated comorbidities. Dr Manjunath said that the number of tests being conducted every day have been increased to around 22,000.