Bengaluru reported 30,540 cases on Thursday, breaching the previous all-time high of 26,756 daily fresh cases on April 30, 2021, at the peak of the second wave. This is also a big jump from 24,135 cases reported in the city on Wednesday.
Experts and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike estimate that the peak is still far away. But Chief Civic Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said the condition in the city during the two peaks is not comparable. While there was a mad scramble for beds, oxygen, medicines and long lines at the city’s crematoriums at the peak of the second wave, even hospitalisation is very low in the city as of Thursday. While the city recorded 93 deaths on April 30, 2021, at the peak of the second wave, the city reported eight deaths on Thursday.
A BBMP estimate puts hospitalisation at 1.3% of the caseload and that less than 0.5% are on critical beds, as of Wednesday. On an average, the city is seeing around 200 to 250 hospitalisations, Mr. Gupta said. As per the COVID-19 Bed Status portal of BBMP, of the 6,963 government quota beds available in the city only 659 beds were occupied and 6,304 beds vacant. Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) said nearly 600 beds were occupied in their share of beds in private hospitals in the city presently.
“Given the mild infection Omicron is causing, we are of the firm opinion that hospitalisation should become the parameter to assess the severity of the situation, and not the number of cases. Presently, we are in a very comfortable situation with all medicines, oxygen and critical beds available for any patient in the city,” said Dr. H. Prasanna, President, PHANA.
This is a function of the change in the nature of infection due to the new Omicron strain of the virus, the civic body’s decentralised and effective triaging and home isolation strategies and the high vaccine coverage, said Mr. Gupta. The city has achieved over 99% of first dose and over 82% of second dose coverage, he added.
State nearing full coverage for first dose
Health Minister K. Sudhakar on Thursday tweeted that the State had so far achieved 99.9% coverage of the first dose of the vaccine. He said the State was inching towards 100% coverage of the first dose, and Karnataka will be the first large State (above four crore population) in the country to achieve 100% first dose coverage.
