Thursday, June 25, 2020
Friday, June 19, 2020
Recovery Rate of COVID 19 in Delhi
200,000 recuperate, rate of recovery stands at 54%
Rhythma Kaul
letters@hindustantimes.com
NEW DELHI : The number of patients who recovered from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in India crossed 200,000 on Thursday but the country’s recovery rate still trailed the global average.
Of the 381,010 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in India, 205,092 recovered as of Thursday, according to data collated by HT.
The global recovery rate stood at around 55% while that in India was around 53.8%.
Maharashtra, which has roughly a third of all infections in India, logged the highest number of absolute recoveries at 60,838. It was followed by Tamil Nadu at 28,641 and Delhi at 21,341.
In terms of recovery rate — which is the ratio of the number of patients recovered to the number of patients infected — among major states, Rajasthan topped the list with 77.5%, followed by Madhya Pradesh at 75.5%.
“India’s recovery rate has been steadily going up, which is a good news. More than 50% of those having tested positive have recovered and taken out of active medical supervision,” said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry, last week.
A section of experts said the increasing number of recoveries was a good sign.
“When the number of those infected in a day is the same as number of people recovering then it usually highlights the fact that the disease outbreak is going to stabilize and start declining in some time, unless some other variables come in such as floating population, new births etc. that change the entire dynamics,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, professor and head, community medicine department, Safdarjung Hospital.
But other experts said it was important to find out how many of the severely ill patients had recovered.
“Earlier all positive patients, even those with mild symptoms, were being treated in a hospital, so 50% recovery right now wouldn’t mean much. Now that hospital admissions are being restricted and largely serious patients are being kept in a hospital it remains to be seen what is the recovery rate based on that the real picture will emerge,” said Dr Charu Hans, former head, microbiology department, New Delhi’s Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital.
New Rapid Antigen Test for COVID 19
456 Covid-19+ on first day in new rapid antigen testsSURGE : Results not yet reflected in city tally, which nears 50k with another record rise
Anonna Dutt
anonna.dutt@htlive.com
New Delhi : Four hundred and fifty-six people were found infected with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the national capital in a new testing programme involving quick-result kits across containment zones, where 7,040 samples were collected on Thursday.
The tests were carried out through new “antigen” test devices that can be used on-site, and Thursday’s rapid sampling numbers are close to the 8,700-odd RT-PCR tests carried out by labs across the city on Wednesday, underscoring how such kits can ultimately speed up the test-trace-isolate process that health experts across the world see as crucial to containing the pandemic.
Officially, the city added 2,877 new cases on Thursday, according to the government’s daily health bulletin, that showed that there had been 65 new fatalities. The new infections came from 8,729 RT-PCR tests, resulting in a confirmation rate of 3.3%. The results from the antigen test results were not included in the bulletin.
Rapid antigen testing was done at 193 centres in Delhi on Thursday. A total of 7,040 people were tested of whom 456 tested positive for the infection. At the beginning, those people are being tested whose houses are in the containment zones,” tweeted acting health minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday.
The new programme is part of the Union and state government’s effort to ramp up the number of tests in Delhi by six times by the end of this week.
The city administration has asked district teams to test those who live in the 242 containment zones in Delhi and are willing to be tested. The new test, developed by a South Korean company and manufactured in Manesar, is highly specific (99.3% to 100%) -- meaning a positive result on the test is a “true positive” and does not need any confirmatory test.
The sensitivity is between 50.6% to 84% depending on the viral load, meaning those who test negative might still have the infection and are advised to go for a test through the more reliable RT-PCR method if they show symptoms of the disease.
The tests began on a day the government announced that lab tests will be capped at ₹2,400, a day after it was suggested by a committee formed by the Union government.
“Two important decisions have been taken in connection with Covid-19 testing in Delhi: The rate for testing has been reduced to ₹2,400 and from today, rapid antigen testing has begun by which results will be available in 15 minutes,” said chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet, adding that he hoped the decisions will address problems faced by the people.
Apart from being quicker than lab-based RT-PCR tests, antigen tests are cheaper – one kit costs ₹450 – and differ in technology as they look for specific protein associated with the Sars-Cov-2 virus, the pathogen that causes Covid-19. The lab tests look for the exact nucleic signatures of the virus.
A third mechanism that can give quick results is the antibody test that checks for the presence of disease-fighting antibodies in a person’s blood, but these have proven to be unreliable and scientists are not sure when and for how long the antibodies can be detected.
When antibody tests were rolled out on April 21, only 62 people were tested in one district on the first day. The test was discontinued from the following day after several states reported wide variation in results from the China-sourced kits.
“This is certainly a good way of ramping up testing – these tests are cheaper and faster. And at the community level, the test will enable us to identify more cases of Covid-19, they can then be asked to remain in isolation at home preventing further spread of the infection,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the department of community medicine at Safdarjung hospital.
“The test is not very sensitive, meaning it can give false negative reports. If it’s a false positive, all we would be doing is keeping more people in isolation. Since there is a chance of false negatives with this test, it will have to be reconfirmed. Having said that, the sensitivity of the RT-PCR test is also about 67% and not very different from this test,” he added.
On Thursday, people in containment zones began reaching the testing facilities – set up mostly in neighbourhood government schools, dispensaries and mohalla clinics – where they were seated at 1m distance before they were administered the test.
At the Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya in Naraina in west Delhi, around 50 people gathered after community volunteers reached out and persuaded people living in a nearby containment area to come to get diagnosed.
Four people in a full-body suit in an air-conditioned room called people one by one. One paramedic collected naso-pharyngeal swabs, before a second one took it and inserted into a tube. This process is meant to inactivate the virus, and dissolve it in a solution that was then put on the main test strip that would give the final result.
A third person numbered the antigen kits with a permanent marker and wrote down the name of the tested person along with the kit number on another sheet. The fourth entered this data to an online portal.
“There were teething troubles on Thursday, with a lot of the time being wasted on setting up the centres. It will be streamlined in a couple of days,” said a district-level health official, asking not to be named.
“The antigen testing is very beneficial for district teams as we get a result immediately and ask people to remain in quarantine if they have the infection. This prevents further spread. It also ensures that people who do need to be admitted to hospitals, reach there in a timely manner,” this person added.
Apart from the containment zones, the antigen tests are likely to be rolled out in Delhi’s hospitals within a couple of days. In a hospital setting, the ICMR recommends the test be used for those who develop influenza-like symptoms, are immune-compromised because of an existing condition, or are undergoing procedures such as chemotherapy and dialysis.
“We have already ordered the tests and should get it within a couple of days. Once that happens, we will start testing patients who fit the ICMR criteria with the antigen kits. Those who test negative will be tested using RT-PCR. In the absence of the antigen test, we would have had to test all the people using RT-PCR, which is time and resource-intensive,” said Dr DK Sharma, medical superintendent of AIIMS.
Wednesday, June 10, 2020
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Thursday, April 2, 2020
Preventive Tips against Covid-19 for people who moved to their villages
India is
fighting against the pandemic of Corona virus infection. Just like rest of the
world now cases have started raising in India. Till date maximum patients of
COVID-19, are concentrated in the metropolitan cities and big towns. Our
villages and small towns are still protected from the cases and infection of
corona virus. Ongoing lockdown has created a fear and confusion in the minds of
people who are economically backward regarding the availability of daily wages and
food in the cities. Also there is a fear in the minds of people of getting
infected by corona virus if they stay more in the big cities like Delhi,
Mumbai, Hyderabad etc. Because of which many of the labourers and workers have
started travelling back to their home towns or towards their villages.
If you are among
those who have travelled back to their home town or village via a crowded bus
or vehicle be aware! You might be carrying corona virus infection inside your
nose and throat.
Are
you aware that a person infected with corona virus infection does not show any
sign or symptom for first 2 to 14 days after getting infected by corona virus
(as Incubation period of corona virus is 2 to 14 days)? Because of which you
are not aware whether you are carrying a corona virus in your nose and throat
or not. In this situation if you have recently travelled through heavily
crowded buses, trains or vehicles please be aware and follow below given preventive
measures to keep yourself and your family healthy.
As soon as you
reach your home town or village in rural area health workers may screen you for
signs of upper respiratory tract infection. If they find that you are suffering
from upper respiratory tract infection, then they will ask you to quarantine in
a place identified by health department of the state for quarantine purpose.
There they will take a nasopharyngeal swab and will send it to labs for RT-PCR,
for detecting corona virus infection. Test results will come in two to three
days till then you have to co-operate health workers and remain quarantine in
the same building. If your test results come negative, they will allow you to
go to your home. But if your test
results come positive health workers and doctors will keep you in isolation
till your two test report done 24 hours apart will come negative. If during
screening you are not symptomatic or does not give any history of contact with
suspected or confirmed case, then they will allow you to go home immediately.
Remember
corona infection can be dangerous for your family member particularly older
parents, relatives and pregnant ladies. After reaching home there are certain
simple preventive measures you should follow to keep yourself and your family
safe and healthy:
·
As soon as you reach home don’t hug and meet
family members too closely. Maintain a distance of at least 1 meter between you
and your family members.
·
Before entering house wash your hands and legs
properly with soap and water, while doing this see that you should rub soap on
your hands at least for 20-40 seconds.
·
Whatever luggage and bags you are carrying with
you keep them outside your home under sun at least for one day, so that we can
disinfect all your luggage by using sun rays.
·
As soon as you enter the house head towards the bathroom
and have a clean bath with hot water and soap.
·
Wash your own clothes with regular detergent and
hot water and dry them under sunlight.
·
After this as much as possible restrict your
movement inside one room and avoid attending social gatherings in the community
or don’t allow visitors to visit you, at least for 14 days.
·
Wash your hands every 2-3 hourly with soap and
water.
·
Cover your face with handkerchief or tissue
paper while coughing and sneezing. If both are not available you can use your upper sleeve, not your
hands. Burn your used tissue papers to disinfect them.
·
Do not
touch your face, eyes and nose again and again, unnecessarily.
·
If you
have any doubt in the mind regarding, you have traveled along with any
suspected case of corona virus or who has any signs of upper respiratory tract
infection in recent past then you should be more careful and vigilant. In such
situation it will be better to get home quarantined. In that case you have to
stay in a separate room, alone for next 14 days.
·
Please prefer
a room for home quarantine with attached toilet bathroom. It should be well
ventilated and with large windows.
·
Whatever
electronic gadgets like mobile and remote you are using in that room should not
be touched by other family members.
·
Limit the
number of caregivers. Ideally, assign one person who is in good health and has
no underlying chronic or immuno-compromising conditions.
·
Visitors should not be allowed until you completely
recover and has no signs or symptoms of COVID-19.
·
Clean and
disinfect bathroom and toilet surfaces at least once daily with regular
household soap or detergent and then with disinfectant containing 0.1% sodium
hypochlorite.
·
Do not
share utensils and clothes and beddings used by you with other family members.
Wash and clean clothes and utensils used by you on your own to avoid infection
to other family members.
·
Have healthy,
vegetarian balanced diet with plenty of water.
·
Enough
rest (sleep of 7-9 hours per day), practice of yoga and meditation will improve
your immunity to fight against the corona virus infection.
·
You can
do salt water gargles and drink lukewarm water during this period to keep your
respiratory tract free from microorganisms.
·
COVID-19
is not a sexually transmitted disease but can transmit because of close contact
and touch. Avoid sexual contact with your spouse during this period.
·
During
these 14 days of quarantine do not drink alcohol or smoke as, alcohol reduce
immunity and smoking make respiratory tract more prone for infection.
·
Stay away from vulnerable members of the family and
society like old age person (>60 years), pregnant woman, children < 10
years of age, persons suffering from hypertension, diabetes mellitus, kidney
failure, liver failure, AIDS, lung disease, heart disease etc.
·
During
this period of home quarantine if you develop any symptom like dry cough, fever
or difficulty in breathing, immediately contact health workers or call on
24*7 , toll free helpline number: 1075. They will guide you and suggest
you further treatment.
Last but
not the least, case fatality rate from corona virus infection is 2-4%, rest all
96 to 98 % patients get totally cured with proper treatment and care.
So don’t
be afraid of corona. Stay Home, Stay Safe and Stay Healthy!
Prepared
by Dr
Pratima Gedam & Dr Jugal Kishore, Department of Community Medicine,
VMMC & Safdarjung Hospital, New Delhi
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