Surgery safe for Covid patients infected with current variant: Govt

The Union Health Ministry on Thursday, during a press conference, said that Covid positive patients of the current variant should not be denied surgery.

New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry on Thursday, during a press conference, said that Covid positive patients of the current variant should not be denied surgery.

An analysis being conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) has said that amongst 53 people infected with Covid and underwent surgery "no deaths and complications have been reported in any of the cases."

"There were no complications reported during and immediate post-operative period," said Lav Agarwal, joint secretary in the health ministry while comparing an analysis being done during the second wave of the pandemic.

The statement comes as a huge shift from the previous directives during the second and first waves when surgeries on patients infected with the novel coronavirus or the Delta variant is a variant of SARS-CoV-2 would face complications and increase the risk of death.

"There was an increased mortality rate after surgery within 7 weeks of Covid19. Between March 2020 to May 2021, there was up to 4 times risk of complications of surgery within 4-8 weeks," said Agarwal while addressing a press conference over the Covid19 situation across India.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also conducted a study on different variants of Covid19 and its implications.

In the study that was conducted in the time period from November 15 to December 15 last year, Delta was the dominant strain whereas from December 16 to January 17, 2022, Omicron has been found as the dominant strain.

The ICMR study was conducted in 37 hospitals and institutes across India.

"Amongst 10.2 percent deaths of fully vaccinated people, 91 percent had comorbidities. There was 21.8 percent deaths among unvaccinated and partially vaccinated people where 83 percent had comorbidities," said Dr. Balram Bhargava, director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

Dr. Bhargava said that in the third wave, people at the age of 44 years were most affected.

"All symptoms had lesser proportions. The major symptom was mainly sore throat," said Dr. Bhargava. Elaborating the Covid19 situation in India, Lav Agarwal said that case positivity and the number of active cases have also been declining.

"India reported a peak of 3,47,254 cases on January 21, which is less than the previous peak of 4,14, 188," said Agarwal.

Agarwal, however, expressed concern stating that eight States still reporting more than 50,000 active cases.

"12 States in India are still reporting 10,000 to 50,000 active cases. 16 States at present are reporting less than 10,000 active cases," Agarwal added.

He said that Kerala and Mizoram are still States of concern as these two states are reporting a spike in both weekly positivity and weekly cases.