THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The accelerating Covid spread has resulted in the formation of family clusters where every member develops symptoms within a few days. Unlike the previous wave, most of the infections have been found to be mild with hospital care required only for a small number of patients.
Out of a total of 1,21,458 active cases reported in the state, only 3.7% of the patients are admitted to hospitals. Health experts attribute the low hospitalisation to the mild nature of the infection and the fact that most people are fully vaccinated.
On Monday, 22,946 persons tested positive, with the test positivity rate -- 33.07% -- indicating that the spread remains high. However, experts say the actual spread is much higher, compared to what is reported by the health department. The reason: families affected by Covid have largely ignored it as they hesitate to get tested.
The current guidelines also focus on homecare, reserving hospital treatment for the severely infected and those in the vulnerable category. “The spread of the infection is much higher than we thought. But almost 90% of the patients have no symptoms at all. Even when the symptoms develop, families have learnt to treat the infection like a flu,” said Indian Medical Association vice-president Dr Gopikumar P.
He said the common symptoms found in fully vaccinated Covid patients are throat pain, body pain and a fever lasting 24 hours. “Some of them seek hospital admission when throat pain becomes disabling,” he added. Experts like him have cautioned against ignoring the self-isolation guidelines as it would lead to further spread. The situation in the third wave is different from the scene during the second wave, when the increase in cases had caused panic.
“The hospitals were swamped with people who had mild infection, which sort of deprived patients with severe infection. People were scared they wouldn’t get a bed with oxygen. As a result, they insisted on admission and were unwilling to be discharged,” said a doctor with the Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital.
The high vaccination coverage has had a major role in controlling morbidity and mortality resulting from Covid, health experts pointed out. They also said the immune escape nature of the Omicron variant could still cause harm among a highly morbid population. People aged 60 and above, those with comorbiditiess, and the unvaccinated continue to be considered vulnerable. Since January 1, the Covid ICU occupancy -- with 655 patients -- has increased by 46%.
Grama sabha meets to go online
T’Puram: The ward-level grama sabha meetings and development seminars should be convened online in areas where the test positivity rate is above 30%, Local Self-Government Minister M V Govindan has said. In districts where TPR is above 20%, the strength of the meeting should be limited to 50 people and arrangements should be made for others to attend online, he said.
Common symptoms