Covid-19: How Mumbai will free up beds for the needy

A teenager is vaccinated at Nair hospital on Thursday. Chahal says vaccinated people infected by Omicron are showing mild symptoms. Pic/Ashish Raje

There will be no more restrictions in the city as the situation is under control, even though COVID-19 cases crossed the 20,000 mark on Thursday, according to Municipal Commissioner I S Chahal. The BMC has also decided to allow admission only of symptomatic patients with an oxygen level below 93 per cent or those with serious comorbidity, and this will vacate 80 per cent beds across hospitals in the next 3-4 days. Cases may increase to 35,000 to 40,000 within the next week but as the hospitalisation is on the lower side, there is no need to panic, added Chahal. The BMC has decided to apply guidelines set by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for home isolation.

According to the new guidelines, only symptomatic patients with an oxygen level below 93 per cent or with serious comorbidity will get admission in hospitals. This will vacate almost 80 per cent of beds across all hospitals within the next 3 to 4 days," said Chahal. On Thursday, he gave instructions about the same to war room and hospital authorities. Chahal said currently 85 per cent of patients are of the Omicron variant and by next week it will completely take over the Delta variant, which will further reduce the hospitalisation.

Currently, 10 to 12 per cent of patients are getting admitted to hospitals. On Thursday, there were 79,260 active patients and of these 5,998 are hospitalised. Out of 20,181 patients reported on Thursday, 1,170 are admitted to hospitals and 106 need oxygen support. "If we applied the criteria of less than 93 per cent oxygen level to admissions, the number will go down further. Out of 6,000 beds which are occupied now, the number will reduce to around 1,000 beds. Only patients with serious comorbidities or operations such as angioplasty or bypass will get admission if they are also symptomatic," explained the Commissioner.

He added, "In December, there were hardly any cases of Omicron and now it is almost 85 per cent of the cases. In the next 6 to 7 days it will completely take over. On Wednesday out of 15,166 reported cases, 15 per cent were of the Delta variant and 1,218 people were admitted to hospitals. On Thursday, though the cases crossed 20,000, the number of admissions reduced to 1,170 as Omicron cases are more. Even the average hospitalisation period has reduced from 10 days to 5 days and patients are getting discharged now. As per the experts, the peak of cases will be next week. The cases may reach 35,000 to 40,000 every day, but hospitalisation will be minimal and so there should be no panic."

Benefit of vaccination

"People infected with Omicron are getting mild symptoms. But it is also due to wide level of vaccination in the city. At least 90 per cent of people have received both doses and so they are getting mild symptoms. Out of 108 patients who are in the ICU, 100 (93 per cent) are unvaccinated. It shows the importance of vaccination. In the USA, the situation is worse due to less vaccination and in Britain, the situation is reverse. Mumbai is saved due to vaccination," said Chahal.

When to seek medical attention

>> Unresolved high-grade fever (more than 100 Fahrenheit for more than 3 days)
>> Difficulty in breathing
>> Dip in oxygen saturation (SpO2 less than 93 per cent in a room, at least 3 readings within one hour)
>> Persistent pain in the chest
>> Mental confusion or inability to arouse
>> Severe fatigue and myalgia (pain in muscles)

' As per the central guidelines

5,998
No. of people hospitalised, as per the BMC, on Thursday