A month after the recovery rate plummeted to 70% in the State, it has picked up again rising to 91.39% as on June 11.
During the second wave, with the pandemic spinning out of control and availability of beds becoming a challenge initially, COVID-19 patients were discharged from hospitals on the fourth or fifth day if they developed clinical stability. Despite this, the recovery rate had reduced considerably during April and the first half of May.
This was mainly because most patients developed complications and landed in hospitals in an advanced stage and took longer time to recover.
Even after walking out of hospitals, they were sent to step down hospitals or to COVID Care Centres till they could be categorised as recovered. While Karnataka’s recovery rate was 90.7% till October last and improved further to 98.1% by the end of February this year, it started plummeting thereafter steadily. It touched 70.91% on May 15.
However, from May 17, it started rising again and touched 76.07% on May 20. By May 31, the recovery rate rose to 86.84% and touched 91.39% as on June 11. Among all districts, Bidar, Kalaburagi and Yadgir have the highest recovery rate of above 97%.
Gadag and Chitradurga had the highest recovery rate at 91.76% and 90.51% till May 8. However, Chitradurga now has the lowest at 84.99%. Overall, 24 districts have a recovery rate above 90% including Kodagu and Bengaluru Urban that had the lowest (around 61%) last month.
Recovery rate is calculated by dividing total recoveries by total positive cases and multiplying it by 100.
COVID-19 experts attribute the rising recovery rate to fall in new cases. V. Ravi, State’s COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee member and nodal officer for genomic confirmation of SARS-CoV-2 in Karnataka, said it is natural for the recovery rate to be low during the surge period and high once the curve is on a downward trend.
“When you are on the upper part of the curve there will be fewer recoveries. But the rising recovery rate should not make us complacent. District administrations should continue to strictly monitor the situation and follow the guidelines on graded unlock,” Dr. Ravi said.
Post-COVID monitoring
C.N. Manjunath, nodal officer for labs and testing in the State’s COVID-19 task force, said those who have recovered should be monitored closely for at least two weeks.
“While oxygen saturation and blood sugar levels should be monitored daily, vital markers such as D-dimer, Ferritin and LDH should be tested again, especially in those who had required ICU care. If these vital markers are high, they may have to be put on blood thinners to prevent heart attack or stroke,” he explained.
Pointing out that several patients have been complaining of palpitation, breathlessness and sleeplessness even after discharge, Dr. Manjunath said: “Several patients have developed new onset of diabetes post discharge or the condition has worsened in those who had pre-existing diabetes.”
“Those who required oxygen supplementation during their hospital stay should do the six-minute walk test at home and seek medical advice if the saturation drops by 4% after the walk,” he added.
