Hospitals conduct Covid mock drills as positivity rate nears 7%

Government and private hospitals carried out mock drills across India on Monday, a first such exercise this year and coming just over three months after the previous routine, to reassess the country’s healthcare preparedness to tackle a potential Covid wave.

The number of daily cases increased to 5,880 on Monday. Several states, including Delhi, warned its citizens to be on alert citing that cases are expected to rise in the coming days. In Mumbai, where 328 cases were reported on Monday, the civic body also made masks mandatory in all hospitals run by it.

During the mock drills, the participants took stock of available medicines, X-ray machinery, oxygen supply and PPE (personal protective equipment) kits. While Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya visited Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi to review the drill, various health ministers followed suit in their respective states. At RML Hospital, Mandaviya had informal interaction with its heads of departments and staff. He listened to suggestions from doctors, nurses, personnel of security and sanitation services, which revolved around quality clinical practices, measures for infection control, hospital management, sanitation processes and patient-centric provisions.

The decision to go for nationwide mock drills on Monday and Tuesday was taken at a review meeting on Covid held on April 7, in which state health ministers, and principal and additional chief secretaries participated. The last mock drill was carried out on December 22, 2022.

The number of active cases increased to 35,199 with 14 deaths being reported in the last 24 hours. The nationwide Covid death toll has increased to 530,979. The daily test positivity rate (TPR) across the country on Monday stood at 6.91 per cent; in Kerala, it was above 10 per cent in 10 of the 14 districts.

As of Sunday, Kerala topped the list of Covid cases with the number crossing more than 12,000. Other states with high case counts include Maharashtra and Delhi.

“Delhi is a densely populated city. Cases will rise and many people will show flu- and influenza-like symptoms such as fever and cough. But they will recover,” said Delhi Health Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj.

States such as Haryana, Kerala and Puducherry have made wearing masks mandatory in public places, while Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has made it mandatory in its hospitals. BMC has also advised its employees to wear masks in public places.

The Centre has urged states to identify emerging hotspots by monitoring trends of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases; sending sufficient samples for testing of Covid-19 and influenza; and ramping up whole genome sequencing of positive samples. Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian, who inspected a mock drill at Rajiv Gandhi General Hospital in Chennai, has directed officials in various districts to be on alert.

“The latest wave of Covid-19 is not as severe as the previous ones and hence there is no requirement for ICU treatment and oxygen. The spread of another variant of Omicron is being witnessed across the country,” Subramanian said.
In the review meeting held with states last week, it was highlighted that XBB 1.16 is currently the most prevalent coronavirus variant and it is not causing severe disease.

Private hospitals, too, have started preparations to tide over a possible spike in cases. “The increase in Covid cases across needs urgent attention. Presently, there are very few admissions. However, we must not drop our guard and renewed focus on Covid-appropriate behavior is required,” Bishnu Panigrahi, group head, medical strategy and operations, Fortis Healthcare.

“We have reviewed our preparedness: Emergency areas were identified, where suspect patients can be cared for in case there is a surge in admission. We also ensured the availability of PPE kits, medicines and oxygen. Those who have not taken their third precautionary Covid vaccine are advised to take it,” he added.
  

 

We need not be worried: N K Arora
 

 
People in India “need not be worried” about the present Covid scenario in the country, according D K Arora, who heads the government’s Covid Working Group as well as the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.

In an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire to discuss the rising Covid numbers, Arora also said that “we need to learn to live with Covid-like influenza”. It would be advisable for three categories of people who have not had the booster dose to take it, he added. The three categories are people over 60, those with comorbidities and people who are immunocompromised.

However, Dr. Arora made clear that there is “no need for a fourth dose”. As he put it, “experience from the West shows additional boosters do not prevent infection. As far as protection from serious disease is concerned, it is well provided by the first two doses which 90 per cent of people over the age of 12 have taken”. Boosters, however, would be advisable for people who fall in the three categories that he mentioned.

In the interview, Arora revealed that India will shortly have two new Omicron-derived vaccines, one of which is an mRNA vaccine and the other is protein-based. The present vaccines are all derived from the Wuhan strain.

- BS Reporter