By Dr Nitin Pandey
DEHRADUN, 2 Aug: Saturday saw 54,735 new cases in India and almost matching, 51,255 recoveries. Almost all severely affected states showed a decline in active case numbers including Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, TN and Delhi. Only state to show a slight jump was Bihar.
What was very interesting is the release of Government figures, which show just 2.23% of patients are serious enough to need oxygen, 1.61% need ICU care and just 0.28% need a ventilator. Thus means that of the 5.67 lakh active cases in India, just 12,644 patients are serious enough to need oxygen. In the entire country, just 12,644 patients need oxygen and we are locking down every day for what? And only 1587 patients across India need a ventilator! Scary?
In Uttarakhand, things were calm with 146 new cases and 107 cases recovered. As usual, 36% of the new cases (54) had no travel or contact history, so the local community spread is still low. Dehradun had only 51 new cases with 30 having no positive history. Number of pending tests remains at 8000, a big source of worry, which the State government has somehow not managed to address. According to epidemiologists, if reports don’t come within 24 hours, they are not worth the money spent because delay in isolating cases results in a spread, defeating the very purpose of testing.
(Dr Nitin Pandey is a Dehradun based ex Indian Air Force doctor, a Pediatrician and an active Social worker.)
