The rise in number of COVID-19 cases should not be a cause of
concern as long as the number of serious patients and deaths due to the disease
remain low, say public health experts in Gujarat.
The rise in number
of COVID-19 cases should not be a cause of concern as long as the number of
serious patients and deaths due to the disease remain low, say public health
experts in Gujarat.
They are also of
the view that the new cases being reported daily should be categorised as mild,
moderate or severe to better understand the pandemic.
"We are
finding new cases everyday, but the first thing we need to know is how many of
them are serious," said Dileep Mavalankar, Director of the
Gandhinagar-based Indian
Institute of Public Health.
"The
government should report how many new patients have been put on oxygen or
ventilator support...we are reporting low mortality," he said.
The new cases
should be divided into three categories- mild, moderate, if a patient needs
oxygen, and severe, if he/she needs ventilator support, he said.
In a recent study,
Mavalankar found that between March and July, the percentage of deaths due to COVID-19
compared to other diseases in India was 1.3, as against 13 per cent in the US
and 17.6 per cent in the UK.
He said the
government should not neglect fatalities due to other reasons just to control
the over one per cent COVID-19 deaths.
At the same time,
the government should provide more data in the public domain for experts to
understand the pandemic situation better, he said.
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