India new COVID-19 regulation aims to free resources but with risks

New Delhi, January 13, 2021:

India has relaxed the COVID-19 rules for testing, quarantine and hospitalization to free up resources for the poorest. This strategy carries the risk of undercounting infections and deaths, but is welcomed by experts.

This move provides a breathtaking space for medical facilities. This is often overkill in 1.4 billion distant countries as it fights a 33-fold surge in infections from highly contagious variants of Omicron over the past month.

This week, federal officials halved the quarantine period to a week, advising hospital care only in the case of serious illness, while forcing confirmed case contact unless fighting old or other conditions. Instructed the state to stop the inspection.

Sanjay K, a professor of community medicine at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in the capital, New Delhi. Rai said:

“The strategy didn’t work and wasted resources,” he added, adding that serological studies showed that it detected only a small portion of the infection. “The new one ensures the best use of what we have gained.”

India’s infections exceeded 36 million on Thursday, with 247,417 new infections, but daily testing is well below 2 million.

Four Indian epidemiologists reiterated Rye’s view, saying it would be better to monitor the number of inpatients rather than infection while quickly testing crowded areas such as workplaces, dormitories, and barracks. rice field.

They added that the guidelines for shorter quarantine and hospitalization are in line with global practice, as most Omicron patients spread the virus faster, but recover faster.

However, some experts say that, especially in rural areas where two-thirds of the population lives, few people seek testing unless directed by the authorities, so the new rules lightly infect people until it is too late. It states that there is a possibility.

Bhramar Mukherjee, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, said:

“It will be difficult to predict future hotspots and epicenters,” she added. This will give authorities less time to consolidate resources for the disease.

It will also affect the tracking of deaths from COVID-19, Mukherjee’s efforts were “already very incomplete and underreported.”

According to health experts, India has significantly underestimated infectious diseases, with deaths exceeding the official 485,000. This is mainly because the victims of the early waves in rural areas knew the condition to the end.

The best health care in the city

India’s best medical facilities are concentrated in major cities, but poor people in vast parts of the country must rely on a dilapidated government network.

For example, a vast mineral-rich district hospital run by the government of Bihar suffers from one of India’s most patient-to-patient medical staff ratios, while New Delhi has more than twice the national average. increase.

The Ministry of Public Health and the state-run Indian Medical Research Council (ICMR) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

ICMR chief Ballam Bhargava said Wednesday that the test kits were full and thousands of people bought home test kits last week, but whether rural areas are as well supplied as urban areas. Did not mention.

Some Indian states have decided to ignore the new testing guidelines as they are not bound by them.

Karnataka, home of the technology hub in southern Bangalore, has reported the third highest number of infections in India and will continue to test for close contact with infected individuals.

According to a survey released this week by New Delhi-based website Local Circles, 15% of respondents were one of family members and friends who had similar symptoms to COVID-19 last month but were not tested. I knew more than people.

When the virus reaches a small town or village, the difference between the actual case and the reported case will widen.

According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, South Asian countries, such as India, where less than half of the population is fully vaccinated, are at high risk of serious illness requiring hospitalization.

Abhishek Rimal, a person involved in the Asia-Pacific region of the Humanitarian Network, said: ET HealthWorld