The percentage of Covid-19 patients receiving treatment at home is 10 times higher than the hospitalised ones amid shortage of necessary facilities. An analysis of the Covid reports provided by the health services directorate (DGHS), reveals the situation.
On 31 July, at least 13,251 coronavirus patients were undegoing treatment in Covid-dedicated public and private hospitals around the country. On the other hand, 137,336 Covid patients remained at home, according to DGHS.
If contacted through helplines, DGHS merely can provide telemedicine services to the Covid patients who are at home.
Public health experts have expressed their concern, given the risk of further transmission of coronavirus as DGHS is unable to closely monitor the health condition of the patients who remain at home.
According to World Health Organization (WHO), 20 per cent of the Covid patients in a community require treatment at hospital. One-fourth of the hospitalised patients need intensive care.
Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control & Research (IEDCR) director Professor Tahmina Shirin, however, said that only 3 per cent of the hospitalised patients (15 per cent of the total detected patients) require treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU).
DGHS data shows that 10 per cent of the critical Covid patients were now admitted to hospitals till 31 July whereas the rest could not be admitted to hospital despite urgency.
Risk at home
A Covid patient faces constant risk suffocation due to fluctuating oxygen saturation in blood. If the oxygen saturation drops, the patient requires emergency oxygen supply. Hence a patient needs to monitor oxygen saturation level through oximeter in regular basis.
Use of oximeter is still unfamiliar to a vast portion of Covid-affected families, particularly the insolvent ones.
The present trend of admission to hospital suggests that only the Covid patients in critical condition rush to hospital when the possibility of recovery dims.
According to Professor Rubina Yasmin at the medicine department of Mugda Medical College and Hospital, 25 per cent of the critical patients (who came to the hospital since their health condition was deteriorating) are dying within 48 hours of their admission.
The physician shared this information after analysing 200 Covid death records at the hospital.
Telemedicine is not enough
Four members of a Dhanmandi-based family have been infected by coronavirus. Among them, the oldest is 70 years old and the youngest is a 16-month-old infant. All the patients are being treated at home as per a telemedicine service by a relative who is also a physician.
All the other Covid patients across the country might not have such a MBBS doctor in their family. For them, three helplines: 16263 (health call centre), 333 (Government service at doorstep) and 10655 (IEDCR) are the only resort.
DGHS can only provide telemedicine services to the patients at home, said its director general Professor Abul Bashar Mohammad Khurshid Alam.
According to DGHS, the three helplines attended to 36,788 calls in 24 hours on Saturday.
Physician Nizam Uddin, chief executive officer of a private company that operates DGHS’s health call centre, told Prothom Alo that more than 95 per cent of the callers are either Covid positive or asymptomatic. And the rest are searching for hospital beds or ambulances.
Telemedicine–as an alternative to in-person medical help–becomes popular amid the pandemic. Although the authorities concerned and media circulated helplines for telemedicine during the outbreak of coronavirus in the country, still many people are unaware about the services.
As the health experts are suspecting the situation to worsen in the days ahead due to a dwindling number of vacant beds in hospitals, they strongly recommend addressing the needs of Covid patients who are at home because many asymptomatic people are dying every day.
Health experts, monitoring the coronavirus situation, believe that telemedicine is not enough for critical patients.
Medical science expert Professor Liaquat Ali told Prothom Alo, “Community engagement is a must to fight against the pandemic. Medical staff and local people need to work hand-in-hand. Local people can help monitor health condition of the patients at home, examine their health and assist the critical ones in emergency visits to the hospital. There are similar examples in other countries.”
*This report appeared in the online and print editions of Prothom Alo, has been rewritten in English by Sadiqur Rahman.