THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a time when the number of people testing positive for Covid-19 is increasing sharply as was seen last year, doctors are worried about the age group and the severity of the infection of patients.While the number of cases started spiking this week, health experts consider the trend of people aged under 40 getting infected is similar to the one seen in other parts of the country.
“The younger population has more exposure to infection than the elderly. They have also become a vulnerable group after the vaccination started. A clear picture will emerge in a week or two,” said Dr Anish T S, Assistant Professor of Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram. In Maharashtra, half of the patients belong to under-40 category.
Experts said identifying the vulnerable age group is difficult because of the non-aggressive testing strategy of the state, though there were 177 deaths in the under- 40 category due to Covid-19. The younger population getting infected are mostly asymptomatic, but they can spread the disease rapidly, said Dr Anish. The state reported 4,353 daily cases with a test positivity rate of 6.81 on Thursday. There were 18 deaths.
Health experts had warned that the situation will become serious in the state if the daily cases touch the 5,000-mark. A doctor said Covid patients arriving for treatment are different this time because of the severity of the infection. “We are getting more patients which are in category B (severe symptoms). If this becomes a trend we will have a tough time ahead as Covid First-Line Treatment Centres won’t be enough to deal with the situation,” said the doctor. The state opened CFLTCs last May when cases started increasing.