909 new cases, 34 deaths in 24 hours; total above 9K; Govt well prepared
Nearly 20 per cent of the Covid-19 positive cases need ICU support in the country. This has put acute pressure on the health officials to mobilise ventilators and other life-saving support equipment.
Addressing the daily Press briefing here on Sunday, Union Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said that on March 29, India had 979 positive cases and 196 needed critical care and oxygen. That time, 41,900 dedicated Covid beds were available in 163 State-run hospitals.
“On April 4, when we required 580 beds, we had 67,500 beds, on April 9, 1,100 beds were required but there were 85,000 beds available in the country,” he said.
Agarwal said as on Sunday India has 8,356 positive cases and of these 20 per cent cases need ICU support. “That means today 1,671 patients need oxygen support and critical care treatment, and we have 1,05,000 dedicated Covid beds available in the country in 601 hospitals. This figure is important to show that the Government is planning things in advance and is over prepared, he said.
In addition, the Government is also increasing the number of dedicated Covid hospitals and isolation facilities as per the evolving situations and precautionary measures because this is a pandemic and number can be exponential. Our effort is to take advanced steps, he said.
India, which is into the world’s biggest lockdown to combat spreading of the highly contagious pathogen, on Sunday reported an increase of 909 cases, taking the country’s total number of coronavirus cases to 8,356 by Sunday morning. The number rose to 9,205 late on Sunday and States were still reporting.
Agarwal said, “This is a pandemic and numbers can be exponential. Our effort is to take advanced steps.”
“A total of 8,356 positive cases have been reported in the country. At least 909 new cases and 34 deaths have been recorded in 24 hours. A good news is that 74 people have been cured in the last 24 hours taking the total number of cured people to 716. Total 273 deaths have been reported so far.”
About the preparations, Agarwal said the Government has identified 14 institutes, including AIIMS and NIMHANS, to mentor medical colleges and expand Covid-19 testing capacity.
Agarwal said AIIMS Delhi is now equipped with 250 beds including 50 ICU beds, and high dependent units attached with beds, and 70 ventilators.
In Safdarjung Hospital, one complete block has been converted into Covid block and has 500 beds. “We have provided 1,680 beds to Andhra Pradesh. As on today there were 148 ventilators available, we provided 444 additional ventilators. One special medical officer is appointed in every State.”
He also added that 9,000 beds were identified by the Army and 7,000 beds are available in military hospitals. Waterproof tents are also available in far flung areas and two patients can be kept in one tent, he said.
On being asked about resurgence in COVID19 cases in last few days in China, Japan and Korea, Agarwal said, “It is a cause of concern for us too, so we need to make sure that we continue to follow our containment and social distancing measures like we are following today.”
According to the health experts, COVID-19’s immediate assault on the body is extensive. It targets the lungs, but a lack of oxygen and widespread inflammation can also damage the kidneys, liver, heart, brain, and other organs.
According to a review ‘Intensive care management of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): challenges and recommendations’ published in the Lancet Journal (Respiratory Medicine), as the pandemic spreads across the world, the intensive care unit (ICU) community must prepare for the challenges associated with it.
It stressed that streamlining of workflows for rapid diagnosis and isolation, clinical management, and infection prevention. Management of acute respiratory failure and haemodynamics is key, it said.
Amid the spike in the number COVID-19 cases, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said that in the last five days, the average number of 15,747 samples have been tested per day. The average number of samples which tested positive daily is 584.
More than 40 vaccines are under development but none has reached the next stage. As of now, there is no vaccine, said Dr Manoj Murhekar, scientist from ICMR.
Across the world, the total number of coronavirus cases has crossed 1.8 lakh. With over 5 lakh cases, the US has been the worst affected country, followed by Spain (1.63 lakh), Italy (1.52 lakh), France (1.3 lakh) and Germany (1.25 lakh).
The mortality across the world has risen to over 1 lakh. In the US, the toll has crossed 20,000, followed by Italy (19,468), Spain (16,606) and France (13,832).