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In nearly 18 days, Covid-19 cases in India have doubled, from 2,07,615 on June 3 to 4,10,461 on June 21. According to an analysis by BusinessLine, earlier, cases had doubled from over one lakh to two lakh in nearly a fortnight.
From four cases on February 29 to 1,01,139 on May 19, it took nearly three months to cross the 1 lakh mark. On May 19, the number of cases touched 1,01,139 and, within 15 days, on June 3, reached 2,07,615.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has stated that 2,27,756 (up to 55 per cent) have recovered and another 13,254 (3.22 per cent) persons have died.
Maharashtra, with 1,28,205 cases, Tamil Nadu (56,845) and Delhi (56,746) are the three States with the greatest Covid-19 burden.
Delhi U-turn
Delhi has been struggling to contain the pandemic. Lieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal, in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, had issued an order that all positive cases would have to be relegated to a mandatory five-day institutional quarantine, but this was withdrawn in a jiffy.
Delhi’s Principal Secretary Vikram Dev Dutt has now issued a revised order stating that all positive individuals will be referred to Covid-19 care centres. Here, they will be assessed for their clinical condition, severity of illness and presence of co-morbidities such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney, lung, liver and heart issues.
A health team will physically assess whether the patient has adequate facilities at home for isolation, such as at least two rooms and a toilet. It will also see if family members and neighbours are protected and a cluster of cases does not develop in that locality. If the team is satisfied, then the patient will be given a choice to either go for home isolation or stay in a Covid centre or a paid isolation facility like a hotel.
The order further states that if the patient’s condition deteriorates then he/she will be shifted to a Covid hospital. The State has also clarified that per patient hospitalisation charges of ₹15,000-18,000 for ICU care with ventilator include bed, diet, doctors’ visits, oxygen, blood transfusion, treatment for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart problems and short term dialysis for kidney patients.
It has added a caveat that experimental drugs like remdesivir and Covid-19 tests will be charged extra. For pregnant women, cost of delivery and charges for care of newborn will be extra but subject to Pradhan Maitri Jan Aarogya Yojana packages.
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