India Coronavirus Dispatch: Co-morbidities take toll in National Capital

Delhi launches helpline number, why Mumbai needs to be tougher on testing, Expert calls for focusing on the 55-plus age group--news on how the country is coping with the pandemic

Covid, diabetes, hypertension combo: In Delhi, one in five people who died of Covid-19 between March and October were suffering from both diabetes and hypertension. These two co-morbid conditions were the common. This was followed by pneumonia. Further, almost 45 per cent of people did not have any co-morbidities. Between March 1 and September 30, the national capital recorded 5,509 deaths. Of these, 1,086 suffered from the deadly combo of diabetes mellitus and hypertension. 695 of these people had diabetes mellitus only, while 678 suffered from hypertension. Keeping with the worldwide trends, Delhi also saw a higher proportion of male fatalities. Males accounted for 66 per cent of the Covid deaths in Delhi. Read more here

Delhi’s helpline: New Delhi district administration has now launched a helpline number, known as Hasgulla Helpline, to provide medical assistance, technology training and counselling to the area’s elderly. District officials say the 24-hour helpline was launched keeping in mind the vulnerability of senior citizens. They have been facing psychological issues due to limited mobility ever since the pandemic hit. Further, critical health services for the elderly have also taken a hit. The name — Hasgulla — has been chosen to spread positivity, officials say. The helpline has already received over 100 calls so far for a wide range of issues. Read more here

Interview

Mumbai should do more: Dr Sanjay Oak, chief of Mumbai’s Covid task force, speaks about the city’s high fatality rate and its response to the pandemic. He says the fact that the city is densely populated is chiefly to blame for its high mortality rate. Failure of social distancing and reluctance of the population to wear masks add to the problem. As a part of the administration’s Mission Save Lives, door-to-door analysis, oxygen saturation monitoring and timely intervention of Remedesvir were administered. He says the administration needs to increase testing, tracking, tracing and treating. He says, ideally, one should trace and track down 1:18 contacts. He admits that the administration hasn’t been able to achieve this number. Being ‘very aggressive in testing’, he says, is the way forward. Read more here

Comment

Covid warrior citizens: The columnist says that decisions during a crisis are driven by panic and fear and as such may not be the most logical and effective ones. However, India’s response to the pandemic, he says, has largely been a successful one. He points to the fact that despite being the second-most populous country in the world, the country has seen the highest recovery rate. Going forward, he says, the focus must shift to those aged above 55 years of age and suffering from co-morbidities. Minimising activities that require physical contact is the key to control the pandemic going forward. This is especially important now in the run up to the festive season. Citizens must remain within the ‘lakshman rekha’ and act like responsible Covid warriors against the pandemic. Read more here

Understanding Covid-19

Covid strains: Covid-19 is circulating around the globe in seven key strains. The virus has mutated in its journey. Experts need to monitor how the virus is mutating to check for a few things. First, it’s important to study how any mutation will impact the effect of antiviral drugs like Remdesivir. Secondly, scientists also need to note the effect of mutations on disease severity and transmissibility. The good news, however, is that mutations are taking place slowly. Flu viruses mutate much faster compared to this. In layman terms this means that since the virus is already really good at infecting human beings, it doesn't need to actually mutate much. The relative stability of the virus means that the vaccine will remain effective for longer periods than seen in the case of influenza. Read more here