Over 85% Covid patients of Punjab are under home isolation: Health dept

Punjab has a recovery rate of 86.3 per cent while the case fatality rate (CFR), which was above 3 per cent till March-end, has fallen to 2.7 per cent. However, Punjab’s CFR is still the highest in the country, while the national average is 1.2 per cent.

Over 85 per cent of Punjab’s active Covid cases are under home isolation, according to the status report of the state health department.

The report states that there were a total of 32,499 active cases in Punjab as on Saturday (April 17). However, out of these, 28,186 patients (86.7 per cent) were under home isolation. Meanwhile, 824 patients were under ‘level 3’ (ICU) care which comprise of 2.5 per cent of the total active cases in the state, while another 1,936 patients (6 per cent) are under ‘level 2’ (oxygen support) care in different hospitals of Punjab. Hence, 8.5 per cent were in level 2 or 3 care in hospital as on April 17.

The status of the remaining 4.8 per cent patients was not revealed in the status report. “Current day’s admissions details are revealed the next day only as in which level they have been admitted, hence on any given day, details of 4-5 per cent are revealed the next day only,” Dr Rajesh Bhaskar, nodal officer for Covid-19 cases in Punjab, told The Indian Express.

Dr Bhaskar further said: “Patients who are stable are home isolated and they can be treated under medical guidance while staying at home only. Hence, the figures clearly indicate that as on April 17, 86.7 per cent patients were getting treatment at their houses. Hence, instead of coming in panic, people need to focus on early testing so that they can get to know about infection at early stages and hence can be treated at home only.”

As on April 17, Jalandhar had the maximum patients in ICU — 269, out of which 8 were on ventilator. In Ludhiana however, 193 patients were in ICU and 26 of them were on ventilator, while Amritsar had 157 patients in ICU of which 16 were on ventilator. Faridkot Medical College had 56 patients in ICU and none on ventilator while 23 patients were in ICU in Patiala with five on ventilator, and 21 patients were in ICU in Mohali and only 1 on ventilator as on April 17.

Punjab has a recovery rate of 86.3 per cent while the case fatality rate (CFR), which was above 3 per cent till March-end, has fallen to 2.7 per cent. However, Punjab’s CFR is still the highest in the country, while the national average is 1.2 per cent.

Till April 17, Punjab had reported a total of 2,95,138 Covid cases, with 401 patients on oxygen support. A total of 7,834 deaths were recorded in the state till April 17.

Patients can request for home isolation and after examining their condition, doctors decide what type of healthcare they need, said Dr Bhaskar. “One need not panic. We can manage Covid at home only if it is detected at an early stage,” he added.

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