Health

Covid-19 hospitalisations in the national capital have increased significantly in the last one week.

The Delhi government’s mobile application for Covid-19 shows the number of people needing ICU beds and beds with ventilators more than doubled during the period, even though the city on Friday recorded a drop in the number of new infections.

On January 14, the Delhi corona app showed a near doubling in the number of people requiring oxygen beds at 2,365, up from 1,272 on January 7. The city has 14,464 oxygen beds.

Similarly, 675 ICU beds were occupied on Friday compared with 201 a week ago. The number of occupied beds with ventilators stood at 230 compared with 77 on January 7. On January 6, only 72 such beds hasd patients.

The private hospitals have also started to see an increase in Covid-19 patients over the last few days.

“The number of Covid inpatients has been increasing over the last two weeks and we have till date admitted from December 21 onwards around 800 patients,” said Sandeep Budhiraja, group medical director at Max Healthcare.

A source at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in Delhi said admissions pertaining to Covid are increasing week-on-week, though it’s still not a surge. Max Healthcare’s Budhiraja said there’s been a relative increase in number of patients needing ICU facility and those requiring oxygen/ventilation.

Isolation

Isolation is used to separate people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 from those without COVID-19. People who are in isolation should stay home until it’s safe for them to be around others. At home, anyone sick or infected should separate from others, or wear a well-fitting mask when they need to be around others. People in isolation should stay in a specific “sick room” or area and use a separate bathroom if available. Everyone who has presumed or confirmed COVID-19 should stay home and isolate from other people for at least 5 full days (day 0 is the first day of symptoms or the date of the day of the positive viral test for asymptomatic persons). They should wear a mask when around others at home and in public for an additional 5 days. People who are confirmed to have COVID-19 or are showing symptoms of COVID-19 need to isolate regardless of their vaccination status. This includes:

• People who have a positive viral test for COVID-19, regardless of whether or not they have symptoms.
• People with symptoms of COVID-19, including people who are awaiting test results or have not been tested. People with symptoms should isolate even if they do not know if they have been in close contact with someone with COVID-19.

What to do for isolation

• Monitor your symptoms. If you have an emergency warning sign (including trouble breathing), seek emergency medical care immediately.
• Stay in a separate room from other household members, if possible.
• Use a separate bathroom, if possible.
• Take steps to improve ventilation at home, if possible.
• Avoid contact with other members of the household and pets.
• Don’t share personal household items, like cups, towels, and utensils.
• Wear a well-fitting mask when you need to be around other people.

Learn more about what to do if you are sick and how to notify your contacts.

Ending isolation for people who had COVID-19 and had symptoms

If you had COVID-19 and had symptoms, isolate for at least 5 days. To calculate your 5-day isolation period, day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Day 1 is the first full day after your symptoms developed. You can leave isolation after 5 full days.

• You can end isolation after 5 full days if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved (Loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation​).
• You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public for 5 additional days (day 6 through day 10) after the end of your 5-day isolation period. If you are unable to wear a mask when around others, you should continue to isolate for a full 10 days. Avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, and nursing homes and other high-risk settings, until after at least 10 days.
• If you continue to have fever or your other symptoms have not improved after 5 days of isolation, you should wait to end your isolation until you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved. Continue to wear a well-fitting mask. Contact your healthcare provider if you have questions.
• Do not travel during your 5-day isolation period. After you end isolation, avoid travel until a full 10 days after your first day of symptoms. If you must travel on days 6-10, wear a well-fitting mask when you are around others for the entire duration of travel. If you are unable to wear a mask, you should not travel during the 10 days.
• Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask, such as restaurants and some gyms, and avoid eating around others at home and at work until a full 10 days after your first day of symptoms.

If an individual has access to a test and wants to test, the best approach is to use an antigen test¹ towards the end of the 5-day isolation period. Collect the test sample only if you are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and your other symptoms have improved (loss of taste and smell may persist for weeks or months after recovery and need not delay the end of isolation). If your test result is positive, you should continue to isolate until day 10. If your test result is negative,  you can end isolation, but continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10. Follow additional recommendations for masking and restricting travel as described above.

¹As noted in the labeling for authorized over-the counter antigen testsexternal iconexternal icon: Negative results should be treated as presumptive. Negative results do not rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection and should not be used as the sole basis for treatment or patient management decisions, including infection control decisions. To improve results, antigen tests should be used twice over a three-day period with at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours between tests.

Note that these recommendations on ending isolation do not apply to people with moderate or severe COVID-19 or with weakened immune systems (immunocompromised). See section below for recommendations for when to end isolation for these groups.

Ending isolation for people who tested positive for COVID-19 but had no symptoms

If you test positive for COVID-19 and never develop symptoms, isolate for at least 5 days. Day 0 is the day of your positive viral test (based on the date you were tested) and day 1 is the first full day after the specimen was collected for your positive test. You can leave isolation after 5 full days.

• If you continue to have no symptoms, you can end isolation after at least 5 days.
• You should continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10 (day 6 through day 10). If you are unable to wear a mask when around others, you should continue to isolate for 10 days. Avoid people who are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, and nursing homes and other high-risk settings, until after at least 10 days.
• If you develop symptoms after testing positive, your 5-day isolation period should start over. Day 0 is your first day of symptoms. Follow the recommendations above for ending isolation for people who had COVID-19 and had symptoms.
• Do not travel during your 5-day isolation period. After you end isolation, avoid travel until 10 days after the day of your positive test. If you must travel on days 6-10, wear a well-fitting mask when you are around others for the entire duration of travel. If you are unable to wear a mask, you should not travel during the 10 days after your positive test.
• Do not go to places where you are unable to wear a mask, such as restaurants and some gyms, and avoid eating around others at home and at work until 10 days after the day of your positive test.

If an individual has access to a test and wants to test, the best approach is to use an antigen test¹ towards the end of the 5-day isolation period. If your test result is positive, you should continue to isolate until day 10. If your test result is negative, you can end isolation, but continue to wear a well-fitting mask around others at home and in public until day 10. Follow additional recommendations for masking and restricting travel described above.

¹As noted in the labeling for authorized over-the counter antigen testsexternal iconexternal icon: Negative results should be treated as presumptive. Negative results do not rule out SARS-CoV-2 infection and should not be used as the sole basis for treatment or patient management decisions, including infection control decisions. To improve results, antigen tests should be used twice over a three-day period with at least 24 hours and no more than 48 hours between tests.

Ending isolation for people who were severely ill with COVID-19 or have a weakened immune system (immunocompromised)

People who are severely ill with COVID-19 (including those who were hospitalized or required intensive care or ventilation support) and people with compromised immune systems might need to isolate at home longer. They may also require testing with a viral test to determine when they can be around others. CDC recommends an isolation period of at least 10 and up to 20 days for people who were severely ill with COVID-19 and for people with weakened immune systems. Consult with your healthcare provider about when you can resume being around other people.

People who are immunocompromised should talk to their healthcare provider about the potential for reduced immune responses to COVID-19 vaccines and the need to continue to follow current prevention measures  (including wearing a well-fitting mask, staying 6 feet apart from others they don’t live with, and avoiding crowds and poorly ventilated indoor spaces) to protect themselves against COVID-19 until advised otherwise by their healthcare provider. Close contacts of immunocompromised people – including household members – should also be encouraged to receive all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses to help protect these people.

Isolation in high-risk congregate settings

In certain high-risk congregate settings that have high risk of secondary transmission and where it is not feasible to cohort people (such as correctional and detention facilities, homeless shelters, and cruise ships), CDC recommends a 10-day isolation period for residents. During periods of critical staffing shortages, facilities may consider shortening the isolation period for staff to ensure continuity of operations. Decisions to shorten isolation in these settings should be made in consultation with state, local, tribal, or territorial health departments and should take into consideration the context and characteristics of the facility. CDC’s setting-specific guidance provides additional recommendations for these settings.

This CDC guidance is meant to supplement—not replace—any federal, state, local, territorial, or tribal health and safety laws, rules, and regulations.

Recommendations for Specific Settings

These recommendations do not apply to healthcare professionals. For guidance specific to these settings, see

Additional setting-specific guidance and recommendations are available.

New Delhi: In a letter addressed to Union as well as state governments, as many as 32 prominent doctors from India and abroad have warned about “inappropriate” diagnostic methods and medications being used to deal with the current wave of the Coronavirus pandemic.

The doctors, in the letter, cautioned that “wanton use of drugs” can be harmful, as seen during the earlier two waves of the pandemic, news agency PTI reported.

ALSO READ | When Can COVID Patients End Home Isolation? Know Health Ministry’s Latest Advisory

“Despite the weight of available evidence and the crushing death toll of the delta wave, we find the mistakes of the 2021 response being repeated in 2022 during the clinical management of COVID-19. We urge you to intervene to stop the use of medications and diagnostics that are inappropriate for clinical management of COVID-19,” the letter read.

It added that the “vast majority of patients” who are asymptomatic or have mild symptoms will require little or no medication.

“Most prescriptions we have reviewed in the past two weeks include several COVID-19 kits and cocktails. The prescribing of vitamin combinations, azithromycin, doxycycline, hydroxychloroquine, favipiravir, and ivermectin for treating COVID-19 is irrational practice,” the doctors stressed.

It was pointed out that outbreaks of fungal infections like mucormycosis in India and aspergillosis in Brazil were attributed to the widespread abuse of inappropriate medications.

According to the doctors, most COVID-19 patients will need no additional tests after the initial positive rapid antigen or PCR test, except, in some cases, home monitoring of oxygen levels.

The Omicron variant can infect even those who had contracted the infection earlier or who are vaccinated, but the “mortality” will be lower among these patients, they stated.

However, CT scans and a battery of laboratory tests like d-dimer and IL-6 are routinely being prescribed by practitioners across the country in asymptomatic and mild cases, placing undue financial burden on families, the experts mentioned.

They stressed how patients are being admitted to hospitals “without clinical justification,” which adds to such burden and also leads to non-COVID patients not getting hospital beds in emergency.

The doctors have urged the government, as well as medical associations, to put an end to such practices.

The signatories to the letter included Dr Sanjay Nagral of Jaslok Hospital, Mumbai; Dr Cyriac Abby Phillips, the Liver Institute, Rajagiri Hospital, Kerala; Dr Rajani Bhat, Bengaluru; Dr Bharat Gopal, Delhi, and Dr Richa Gupta, Christian Medical College, Vellore.

The group also includes some Indian-origin doctors living in the US and Canada.

This comes as Coronavirus cases have been surging across the country along with the rise in Omicron infections.

On home isolation of COVID patients, the Union Health Ministry on Friday stated that the home isolation will be over after seven days pass from testing positive without getting a fever for three successive days, after which, no re-testing is required.

Asymptomatic contacts need not take a COVID test, it informed, as reported by news agency ANI.

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BHUBANESWAR: Keeping in view the risk to non-COVID patients in accessing medical facilities in hospitals amid a surge in coronavirus cases, the Odisha government has allowed the activation of telemedicine service for them. The state government on Thursday issued an order asking telemedicine platforms to provide distance medical assistance to the needy.

“The present COVID-19 situation has raised a big challenge to the accessibility of patients to hospitals for general healthcare. Taking the situation into account, it has been decided to use telemedicine centres effectively and proactively established in medical colleges and other hospitals,” the notification said.

The telemedicine service will be available in SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur, VIMSAR, Burla, Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Post Graduate Institute of Paediatrics in Cuttack round the clock and staff arrangement be made accordingly, it said.

The service will also be available at four new medical colleges and hospitals in Balasore, Baripada, Bolangir and Koraput, along with Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar and Rourkela General Hospital (RGH) from 8 AM to 5 PM.

In PHCs, the telemedicine service will be available as per OPD timings from 8 AM to 12 PM, and 4 PM to 6 PM, it said.

In another directive, the Health Department asked the hospital authorities to ensure social distancing, prevention of infection among healthcare personnel, avoiding non-essential admission, and conducting of only emergency surgeries with universal precautions.

In Inpatient Department (IPD), only one attendant be allowed for serious patients and no attendant for ambulatory patients. In Outpatient Department (OPD), medical officers should not advise frequent revisits of patients if not required, it said.

Media must not be allowed to enter either OPD or IPD, and dedicated fever clinic, isolation ward and testing facilities must be established, the order issued by the Directorate of Health Services to the superintendents of all medical colleges and hospitals, Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, RGH and chief district medical officers and public health officers said.

New Delhi: In what might be termed as a ‘miraculous recovery’, a 55-year-old bedridden man started to walk and speak after being administered the first shot of Covishield vaccine in Jharkhand on Thursday, said doctors.

According to the doctors as quoted by news agency PTI, Dularchand Munda, a resident of Salgadih village in Uttasara panchayat area of Peterwar block in Bokaro district, Jharkhand, was bedridden with spine problems after he met with an accident five years back, following which he lost the ability to walk and speak.

Dr Albela Kerketta, the in-charge of Peterwar Community Health Centre, said that Dularchand Munda, the sole bread earner of the family, was given the first dose of Covishield vaccine by an Anganwadi worker at his house on January 4. The following morning, his family was shocked to see that Munda had not only started to walk but started speaking too.

“We saw his reports. This is a matter of investigation,” Dr Kerketta said.

Stunned over this ‘miraculous recovery’, a three-member medical team has been constituted by the government to probe the matter, said Bokaro’s Civil Surgeon Dr Jitendra Kumar.

This is a surprising incident. We will analyse Munda’s medical history, news agency PTI quoted Dr Kumar.

After receiving his first dose of Covishield, Munda, who was critically injured in the road accident five years back, started walking and speaking, said the doctors.

Astonished over the incident, the villagers of Salgadih, about 50km from the district headquarters in Bokaro, termed it a divine intervention.

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New Delhi: In December 2021, the WhatsApp Business Nearby Search tool was initially mentioned. While it has only been a few days since it was initially spotted, WhatsApp has added Businesses Nearby Search to its stable version for WhatsApp Business app users. It’s a tool that allows users with a Business account to use the search tab to look for other businesses, such as restaurants.

Businesses Local Search is a new tool that allows users to search for nearby businesses such as grocery stores, textiles and clothing, and restaurants. There was little to no information about the feature’s global availability when WABetaInfo first noticed it. However, both iOS and Android users are now able to access the feature. It’s yet unclear whether the feature will be added to the regular WhatsApp app.

How to use WhatsApp Business Nearby feature? 

Users must first open the WhatsApp app and then go to the search section to activate the WhatsApp Businesses Nearby feature. They will see additional search filters such as Restaurant, Grocery Store, Apparel & Clothing, and more as they type the search query. Traditional filters such as Photos, Videos, Links, GIFs, Audio, and Documents will be available alongside these new filters. The function will be one of the WhatsApp features that allows the programme to be used for more than just texting.

While the function appears to be designed for Business Account users to learn about additional firms in their area, it may also be used by normal WhatsApp users as a search engine. It may be quite useful in this situation because it would allow people to search for multiple locations nearby. The WhatsApp Business nearby search feature could use the device’s location to determine the location and then display results.

WhatsApp is alleged to be removing the WhatsApp Broadcast List and WhatsApp New Group options from conversation in related news. According to another rumour, WhatsApp will preserve the archived message area at the top of the home screen, but will remove the Broadcast List and New Group options from the top right and left of the screen, respectively. To make the chats look cleaner, WhatsApp will remove both options. WhatsApp plans to “eliminate the row where you may open your broadcasts lists and create new groups,” according to the report. The WhatsApp Broadcast List and WhatsApp New Group options currently allow users to deliver messages to a large number of people in a short amount of time.

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By PTI

NEW DELHI: Technology has the power to democratise healthcare delivery as even the top doctors could be consulted with a click of a button, eminent cardiologist and Narayana Hrudayalaya Chairman Devi Prasad Shetty said on Tuesday, January 11, 2022.

Speaking at an industry event here, Shetty noted that with digital aid, people from all strata of society and even from the remotest locations across the country can reach out to top physicians in the country for consultation, which was not the case earlier.

ALSO READ: Government doctors joining online consultation app set alarm bells ringing in Tamil Nadu

“Technology gives the rich people what they always had in a better format. But technology will give poor people what they can never dream of having and this is the beauty of technology. What it will do is to democratise healthcare. And this is one industry which is ripe for digital disruption,” Shetty said while participating in the online Microsoft Future Ready event.

Noting that healthcare is dependent on data, he said 95 per cent of the people who are unwell do not need to be operated upon and thus do not require physical presence of a doctor.

“If they don’t need an operation, I don’t need to touch them. And if I don’t need to touch them, I don’t need to be there. I can be anywhere. I can talk to them, get the data and explain to them what the problem is and I can make the decision. So technically speaking, when you hear that somebody is unwell 95 per cent of the time, you can treat them online,” Shetty said.

He noted that the AI and software linked to electronic medical records (EMRs) would help doctors to make better diagnoses.

“Within the next five years the smart EMR will start making smarter diagnoses than doctors. And within seven years, I can tell you that we doctors will be mandated to get a second opinion from the software before starting the treatment. That is going to happen,” Shetty stated.

Healthcare providers already have smarter software that can give amazing interpretation of the data and relatively accurate diagnosis, he added.

“Now, it may not be available everywhere, but it is a matter of time. Before it will happen. Healthcare will become safer for the patient…it will become affordable and it will become accessible. We have millions of diabetics in India and there are only 1,000 diabetologists. How can 1,000 diabetologists treat such a huge number of people? You just convert all the diabetic consultation online. We will have a phenomenal healthcare delivery,” Shetty noted.

When asked about the lessons he has taken from other industries, he stated that as a medical practitioner he has taken inputs from the manufacturing sector which believes in volumes and scale of economies.

“The hospital where I work, we do about 30 to 37 heart surgeries every day. And what we noticed is when you do a large number of procedures, your results get better. Your cost goes down, there is economy of scale and everyone is oriented for some particular aspect of treatment,” Shetty noted.

He also stated that if a solution is not affordable, it is not a solution.

“In any industry, you may create a fantastic product, but if your customers cannot afford it, it is of no use. So in my industry I keep getting excited when somebody has developed an artificial heart. We have been implanting artificial hearts for the last 12 years. It is a phenomenal achievement. But an artificial heart in the Indian context costs more than a few million dollars. How many people in my country can afford it? So that is not of any use here,” Shetty said.

Bengaluru-based Narayana Hrudayalaya operates a network of hospitals across the country.

It also operates a facility in the Cayman Islands.

The company now features over 5,859 operational beds through a combination of greenfield projects and acquisitions.

By Shalini Bhardwaj

New Delhi: Senior Director of Medanta Hospital Dr Sushila Kataria on Friday warned people not to “be complacent because the situation will worsen in the next two weeks” because the third wave of coronavirus disease has already hit India and it is not just a flu that will pass away.

Speaking to ANI, Dr Kataria, who has treated many COVID-19 patients said, “One cannot be complacent because the situation will worsen in the next two weeks. COVID is not just a flu that will pass away. We have already seen from January 4 that the third wave has already hit the country. The number of cases has almost increased five times in the last three days.”

“No doubt it is increasing because Omicron variant is spreading across the globe. Another fact is that it is less severe than the Delta variant. But it cannot be dismissed completely because every 10th person was admitted to the hospital during the second wave,” the expert said.

Dr Kataria further said, “Even every 50th or 100th person was dying due to Delta variant. The number of hospitalisation is just 50 per cent less in this case. Even these numbers are good enough, large enough, worrying enough to other girls in the healthcare system, which I am seeing right now.”

She also said that the people are dying because of the Omicron variant, so more precautions need to be taken as of now and “So this may be a mild virus good for us, but we can’t be complacent that it will not cause anything. Let me tell you across the globe, people have died because of Omicron. So, this is not just a vaccine or not just a flu, which will pass away. One has to be careful all the time.”

On testing of Omicron variant, Dr Kataria said, “Detection of COVID infection is only through RTPCR or antigen or rapid testing. So, in today’s times if anybody has upper respiratory symptoms or diarrhoea or just a body ache, it is presumed to be COVID related, isolate and test yourself. So, the RTPCR can tell you this is COVID or not. To know whether it is Omicron or not, then you have to do some further testing. One is called S gene drop.”

Differentiating between Omicron and Delta variant symptoms, she said, “As a clinician, the difference I am observing is people have a more scratchy throat, body aches, and shivering. Fever is not a common symptom. But in younger people, sometimes people are reporting 103-104 deg F fever, and there is disproportionate tiredness and headache.”

“Earlier the cough was very dry. Now people are coming with more like a bad cough but it is very clear or whitish clear. These are the main symptoms we are seeing. They’re seeing less of loss of smell and taste, but to say 100 per cent that it does not happen. I need some more experience clinically and maybe some more research,” she added.

She also said that people who complain of breathlessness and continued fever beyond even seven days have been reported in some cases, but it is much less than it was reported in Delta.

Dr Kataria also warned that people need to be cautious as she is getting people whose health condition is deteriorating.

“I would like to caution people that it is not like this. I myself have two patients in the hospital right now who are on oxygen and who are Omicron. We have lost one patient because of Omicron which was reported,” the expert said.

Dr Kataria added, “Delhi also reported eight fatalities yesterday and you never know all these patients could be Omicron because that’s the dominant strain across. So it is milder is good for us. But please don’t be complacent from your side. Do not invite infection. Do everything possible to prevent from getting infected and if somebody is infected, make sure that you do not pass on this to somebody else.”

Meanwhile, India reported 1,17,100 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the daily positivity rate in the country to 7.74 per cent, said the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday.

With this, the country’s COVID-19 case tally has gone up to 3,52,26,386.

According to Health Ministry, the country has so far reported 3,007 cases of Omicron of which 1,199 have recovered.

Children with sleep apnea have an increased risk of developing high blood pressure in their teens, a new study has found. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease.

Sleep apnea is a common disorder that causes people to briefly stop breathing during sleep. It typically happens multiple times during a single night’s sleep. While it mostly affects adults, about 10% of school-age children also suffer from sleep apnea. Nearly half of these children will outgrow the disorder. The other half must deal with a potentially chronic and progressive health problem.

While it mostly affects adults, about 10% of school-age children also suffer from sleep apnea.

The researchers, supported by the National Institutes of Health, began by testing several hundred children aged 5 to 12 for sleep apnea. A small proportion of those tested were diagnosed with the disorder. Eight years later, the researchers evaluated all the children again. They were tested for both sleep apnea and high blood pressure. The results showed that children who continued to have sleep apnea in their teens were nearly three times more likely to develop high blood pressure than children who never had sleep apnea. Children who were initially diagnosed with sleep apnea but had few or no symptoms by the time they became teens did not show an increased risk of high blood pressure.

Several studies have looked at the link between sleep apnea and high blood pressure in adults. But few have checked the risk of high blood pressure in children with the disorder.

Like adult sleep apnea, childhood sleep apnea can be treated. Treatment may include surgical removal of tonsils and adenoids. Some children may be helped by using a CPAP machine, which delivers air through a mask to keep the airway open during sleep. For children who are overweight, adopting a healthy eating and exercise plan can also help.