'Home isolation could have spiked serious COVID19 cases in Delhi,' Expert

With the national capital witnessing a steady increase in the number of COVID19 cases and subsequent death toll, Dr Vinay Aggarwal, a senior health expert and past president of the Confederation of Medical Association in Asia and Oceania told ETV Bharat that home isolation could be a major reason for such an increase.

New Delhi: Amid a huge spike in the number of serious positive cases and deaths of Covid19 patients in Delhi, Dr Vinay Aggarwal, a senior health expert and past president of the Confederation of Medical Association in Asia and Oceania told ETV Bharat on Tuesday that home isolation could be a major reason for such an increase.

"There is a spike in death and serious cases in Delhi for last one week or 10 days. Hospitals are receiving a large number of cases. Moreover, most of the people coming to the hospital are in critical condition by the time they reach the hospital," said Dr Aggrawal.

He said that people at home isolation are becoming very casual and when they realise the oxygen level of the patients is going down when "it becomes too late."

Dr Aggrawal said that there can't be proper investigation of patients in home isolation like CP fibrosis in the lungs etc.

"Number of brought dead cases have also increased in Delhi. And might be these cases are not coming under Corona census," Dr Aggrawal said.

Delhi has been witnessing more than 115 deaths of Covid19 patients daily in the last 12 days. On Monday Delhi recorded 4,454 Covid cases with a positivity rate of 11.4 percent. As many as 121 people have died due to Covid19 in the national capital in the last 24 hours.

To stock of the emerging situation, Union Home Minister Amit Shah has personally intervened into the matter and asked hospitals in Delhi to increase the number of ventilators and ICU beds.

It may be mentioned here that health ministry along with ICMR keeps issuing guidelines for home isolation for mild and asymptomatic patients.

Dr Aggarwal, however, said that the government asking hospitals to increase the ventilator and ICU beds is not the answer.

"We need people to run them. However, ICU beds can't increase in three days. The machine is not an ICU," said Dr Aggrawal referring to the fact that multidisciplinary central team visiting hospitals to check the increase in the number of ventilators and ICU beds a day after Home Minister Amit Shah have ordered.

He further said that the unlock process should be done in a phased manner.

"Government went for unlock in an unorganised way. For example, markets with huge gathering should have opened phase-wise instead of opening them at one go," said Dr Aggrawal.

As per Health Ministry statistics Delhi has witnessed 8512 deaths till date with 37329 active cases still present.

Read: Frontline workers will get Covid vaccine first: Modi