Only 2,717 coronavirus patients on ventilator support: Health ministry

Close to 3.5% of the active cases or those still recovering from coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the country are on oxygen support.

Fewer still _ 2.03% of the active cases _ are in need of admission to an intensive care unit. And, only 0.33% or 2,717 people with Covid-19 in the country are on ventilator, data released by the union health ministry shows.

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“This is due to early detection, early hospitalisation, and effective clinical management based on standard treatment protocol,” the health ministry said. At present, there are over 815,000 active cases of coronavirus disease in India.

India reported 83,507 new cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Thursday, taking the country’s tally close to 4 million cases.

Five states _ Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu _ account for 62% of the active cases in the country. Except Tamil Nadu, the average daily active cases in the other four states have gone up during the past week, data from the health ministry shows.

Over 1,000 deaths due to coronavirus disease (Covid-19) have been reported in a day across the country for three days in a row. On Thursday, 1,080 people died of it, taking the total toll of the infection to over 68,000 in the country, according to data from the HT dashboard.

The union health ministry data shows that five states account for 70% of the cumulative deaths reported so far. However, only two of the five states have shown an increase in the number of deaths in the last three weeks – Karnataka and Delhi.

Even as the numbers are on the rise, the case fatality ratio _ fraction of people who die among those who test positive for the infection _ has remained steady at 1.7%.

On being asked why the government was reopening the economy even as the number of cases and deaths were on the rise, union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, “The government has adopted a graded approach to open up various economic activities. It is not as if suddenly everything has been opened up. Prior to that, the government also ensured that all prerequisites are in place _ we have ensured that the testing capacity in the country is adequate, that there are clear cut guidelines of standard clinical treatment protocol, that the hospital infrastructure is enhanced and there are adequate number of ICU beds, isolation beds, and oxygen beds. All these things have been firmed up and only then has the government gone for a graded opening of economy. At the end of the day, the government firmly believes that while lives are important, livelihoods are equally important.”