BENGALURU: In the last 10 days, 13 patients from eight districts have lost their lives to COVID in Karnataka.
Their ages ranged from 47 to 90, and included both men and women.
What is common among all these cases, as per the Critical Care Support Team (CCST) looking into high-risk cases, was that private hospitals did not notify district health authorities in time about symptomatic patients coming into their facilities.
Dr Thrilok Chandra, Special Officer, CCST, said, “In the case of a 44-year-old man’s death in Gadag, he went to two private hospitals, but both did not inform the government that he had Covid symptoms. It was only after his condition deteriorated that he was shifted to a government hospital in Hubballi-Dharwad.”
He was diagnosed with ILI, fever, cough, diabetes and urinary tract infection.
He died on June 4, the same day he was shifted to the government hospital, due to bronchopneumonia and sepsis.
Private hospitals not notifying district health offices early on is leading to patients’ condition deteriorating to a point of no return.
The government has instructed private medical establishments and pharmacies to take down details of patients with SARI and ILI symptoms, to intervene proactively.
“In a recent death in Vijayapura, the person kept relying on over-the-counter drugs and reported late to the hospital. In some cases, people have been brought dead,” Dr. Chandra said.
“In several cases, patients suffer from sepsis, which is a large -scale infection of multiple organs. It happens when a person’s condition has deteriorated and is not treated on time.”
The state has decided to cancel their licences, under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments Act, of private establishments if they do not report such patients.
Dr. Anoop Amarnath, Chief, Clinical Services, Manipal Hospitals, who is part of CCST and does e-rounds of patients, said, “A majority of recent deaths have comorbidity and advanced age as factors.”