By: Dr R.S. Randhawa
Almost a year after the country was locked down because of the global pandemic, the second wave is here. The Supreme Court of the country has labelled it a tsunami and not a wave.
The number of cases are increasing by the minute surpassing all previous records and India is leading the world in the number of positive cases being reported.
Everyone is feeling the heat. Hospitals are literally overflowing with COVID-19 positive patients. Supply of essential medicines and oxygen has fallen short. Medical facilities are fast running out of beds, doctors, and healthy healthcare workers.
Fortunately the system has not totally collapsed as yet. Though it sure seems like it’s on the brink of it.
Let us take a holistic view of the situation and try to formulate an action plan that could help us dig our way out of this hole.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
As on 05 May 2021, India reported 378,075 (7DMA) new cases accounting for 47% of new cases reported globally and 276 daily cases per million population.
OBJECTIVES:
- To reduce the pace of spread
- To provide healthcare, either home care or institutional
- To achieve herd immunity by mass vaccination
STRATEGY:
(1) TO CONTROL THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS:
A. Mandatory wearing of masks in all public space.
B. Frequent hand washing and senitisation
C. Maintaining ‘Social distancing’ at all times.
(2) MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 POSITIVE PATIENTS :
Covid positive patients can be managed by following either of these routes:
A). HOME CARE :
(recommended only for cases with nil to mild symptoms)
- Conduct RTPCR test to confirm infection.
- Home isolation/Quarantine
- Provide medicine kit and provide educational and informative material regarding the management of the condition.
B). INSTITUTIONAL CARE :
(recomended for cases with severe symptoms, aggressive lung involment and co-morbities)
- Facilitate finding of hospital facilities through mobile based applications.
- Regulate the charges of admission and treatment by private players to prevent exploitation.
3). VACCINATION
- Vaccinate all frontline workers on a priority basis
- Try to vaccinate majority of the population by aggressive vaccination drives accompanied by awareness generation and educating about the virus, so that ‘herd immunity’ could be achieved at the earliest.
OUTCOME TARGET
This strategy if implemented effectively would lead to:
- Breaking up the chain of infection
- Enable handling of mild cases at home, thus providing a much needed breathing space to the already streatched thin healthcare infrastructure.
- Timely intervention and care would reduce mortality rate significantly.
- Achieving ‘herd immunity’ would help us face the imminent ‘Third wave’.
There is a blame-game going on in the country. Everything from religious congregations to election rallies, from lack of empathy from the political class to non-compliance to the level of defiance is being blamed for the pickle the nation finds itself in today.
Innumerable conspiracy theories as well as scientific studies come up everyday to try and explain our current predicament.
However, this is not the time for discord. We need to present a united front against this virus and try to subdue it with every resource at our disposal. There will of course come a time for introspection and catharsis, but right now is not that moment.
*The author is a retired Chief Medical Officer from Punjab Health Systems Co-operation.
2 Comments
Very well written article..if followed I am sure we can curb the onslaught..
Very informative article… If all were to follow this, we could have controlled it by now. But better late than sorry. And as the author has highlighted, we will have time for catharsis but only if we put up a united front now.