UDUPI: Only a few patients who tested positive for Covid-19 in Udupi have required ventilator support till now. A few others, who did require oxygen, too have recovered well. Out of the total 2,405 Covid-positive cases in Udupi as on Tuesday, patients needed ventilator support in just 25 cases.
Udupi district has a recovery rate of 72 per cent and fatality rate of just 0.4 per cent, second in the state after Yadgir (0.1 per cent) against the state’s fatality rate of 2.05 per cent. Nodal officer for Covid-19 in Udupi district Dr Prashanth Bhat told The New Indian Express that early testing of vulnerable sections of people, like the elderly with co-morbidity, helped the district health authorities treat and cure them without them reaching a stage where they would need a ventilator.
Of the 2,405 positive cases, 1,742 had been discharged as on Tuesday. Dr Prashanth also said that segregation of patients as per their treatment needs such as primary, secondary and tertiary-level care also helped the health department keep the fatality rate at 0.4 per cent. The district’s testing rate is also impressive - fourth in the state.
According to Udupi DC G Jagadish, rigorous testing brought more positive cases to light, but early detection helped authorities treat people without ventilators. “We have a strict rule in place for medical shops in the district to not sell drugs without a doctor’s prescription. This has also helped officials identify and test suspected Covid cases,” he added.
The district has 50 ventilators to treat Covid patients at Dr TMA Pai Hospital (district Covid hospital), the district government hospital and two taluk government hospitals in Kundapur and Karkala. But with SARI cases increasing over the past week, the DC has sought 50 more ventilators. There are an 60 ventilators in private hospitals in the district.