Hospitalisation increases marginally in Delhi

New Delhi, June 22 (PTI) With a surge in COVID-19 infections in Delhi, hospitals are also witnessing a slight increase in admissions, but most of these patients, doctors say, have comorbid conditions.

According to the Delhi Corona app, out of 9491 designated COVID-19 beds, 263 (2.77 per cent) are occupied while 24 out of 1178 ICU beds with ventilators have patients.

On June 15, 182 (1.9 per cent) patients were in hospitals while on June 8, 85 (0.88 per cent) beds were occupied.

Within a fortnight, the hospitalisation has increased by over two times.

Dr Sumit Ray, head of the department of critical care medicine at the Holy Family Hospital, said that there was no need to panic.

"The infection is obviously all around. The number of admissions has increased while the ICU patient numbers have remained steady. We have two patients on the ventilator. The floor admissions have increased but only one patient is on oxygen support while the patients on ventilators have comorbidities," he said.

His views were endorsed by Dr Subhash Giri, medical director at the GTB Hospital, who said that the number of suspected COVID-19 patients at the fever clinic has seen a rise and the lab positivity rate is also reflective of the increase in cases in the national capital.

"Two weeks back, there were a total of two patients in the COVID area and those too were incidental cases. They had been diagnosed with other conditions but during investigations, they were found to be COVID-19 positive. Presently, there are around 14 patients in our hospital," he said.

He said that barring two, the others patients admitted to the hospital have different primary illnesses while COVID-19 is a secondary condition.

"Some had a severe infection and a few patients were put on ventilator also. There have been mortalities, but COVID-19 was not the primary reason for the deaths. The cases are coming in clusters in a family or in neighbourhood," he added.

The senior doctor also stated that people who are unvaccinated or partly vaccinated have had a severe illness and mostly came from rural areas where there is not much awareness about it.

He urged people to exercise caution and get inoculated.

Ray said that they also have a couple of paediatric patients.

"Some of the patients had gastrointestinal symptoms and required IV interventions. I have a few young people with fever, diarrhoea, and vomitting due to COVID-19-19 more than cough. We have a couple of paediatric patients not because they required oxygen but because of dehydration. Even the elderly have faced this issue," he said.

Ray said that patients who have developed severe illnesses are those who are either immunosuppressed or unvaccinated or partially vaccinated.

"In some cases, family members also got the patients hospitalised out of sheer fear since they had comorbidities, but there was no severe illness in them," he said.

Delhi reported 1,383 fresh COVID-19 cases and one more death due to the viral disease in a span of 24 hours, while the positivity rate was recorded at 7.22 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department on Tuesday.