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Bengaluru, Jun 20: The Karnataka Health Department has issued guidelines on the admission of COVID-19 patients in private hospitals after clinical assessment, mandating that the district surveillance officer (DSO) should be first informed to initiate further procedures, an official said on Friday.

"A health team sent by the DSO should visit the home or hospital where the patient is staying. The team should conduct a rapid assessment of his or her health condition," said Karnataka's Additional Chief Secretary Jawaid Akhtar.

In the rapid health condition assessment, the team should first check the patient's body temperature, followed by SpO2 (oxygen saturation) level and confirm if there are any comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, tuberculosis, HIV, cancer, stroke etc.

Depending on the health condition of patients, Akhtar said, two categories have been made.

"Those who have body temperature greater than 37.5 degrees Celsius, SpO2 level below 94 percent, elderly (above 60 years) and suffering from known comorbid conditions should be taken to a dedicated Covid hospital (DCH)," he said.

"All other patients, even if older but not suffering from co-morbidities, those below 60 and suffering from co-morbidities and asymptomatic cases should be taken to a dedicated Covid health centre (DCHC) or a private hospital as opted by the patient," he added.

Private hospitals have been asked to pitch in due to the rising number of cases in Karnataka. Currently, there are 2943 active cases in the state after 337 cases were reported on Friday.

"The patients are assessed clinically and evaluated at DCHCs or private hospitals with appropriate diagnostic tests. After evaluation, if the patients are asymptomatic, they are shifted to a COVID Care Centre (CCC) for further management," said Akhtar.

CCCs are expected to be equipped with ventilated rooms, pulse oximeters, handheld thermal scanners and blood pressure apparatus.

A nurse has to be present round the clock for every 50 patients and should visit each patient twice a day for assessment whereas the medical officer has to visit the CCC once a day. He should also be available on call in case of an emergency.

Staff serving food and others should wear personal protective equipment and an N-95 mask. Explaining the procedures at DCHCs, Akhtar said general examinations for medical conditions like body temperature, BP, pulse, oxygen saturation and urine output should be in place.

Investigations such as complete blood count, fasting blood sugar, random blood sugar, liver function tests, renal function tests, ECG and chest X-ray facilities should be available.

"DCHCs should ensure that above examinations are over in an orderly timeline of 24 hours and depending on the examination, the patient is continued to be lodged at the DCHC or sent to DCH or CCC," said the senior officer.

Likewise, the discharge policy should be done as per the protocols issued by the Health Department from time to time.

The Karnataka government is yet to fix an upper limit on the cost of treating COVID-19 patients in private hospitals. While reports indicated that this could be capped at Rs 5200 per day, health officials are yet to specify this is the case. Private hospitals in the state have asked the government to take a collaborative approach in deciding the fixed cap on treatment cost.

India will suspend all domestic flights from midnight Tuesday, the final piece of a nationwide lockdown that threatens Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s attempts to revive an economy already expanding at the slowest pace in more than a decade.

The flight ban compliments a cancellation of all passenger trains through March 31, as authorities try to halt the spread of the coronavirus in the world’s second-most populous country, which has poorly equipped hospitals and inadequate social security. Modi on Monday held a conference call with some of India’s top entrepreneurs and bankers, who urged policymakers to immediately slash interest rates by as much as a full percentage point, transfer cash to the poorest citizens, and suspend loan-repayments.

Over the past three days, state after state has declared curfews and India’s international borders have been shut for most visitors since March 11. India so far has 492 virus cases, including nine deaths. But experts say the country could be on the same trajectory as Italy, where the outbreak quickly escalated, causing hospitals to overflow.
A traveller stands outside a near-empty Delhi Junction Railway Station in Delhi, March 22.

"This is the biggest lockdown in world history,” said Raghu Raman, a former soldier with the Indian Army and founder of the National Intelligence Grid, an umbrella database aimed at countering terrorism. “This strategic pause gives decision-makers more time to arrest the exponential spread of the virus and evaluate trade-offs.”

Controlling the outbreak is crucial for Modi, who remains India’s most popular political leader currently though his economic management has faced criticism. Foreign investors are selling Indian assets at an unprecedented pace and failure to contain deaths and infections could erode some of the prime minister’s personal appeal at home.

Oxford Economics slashed India’s January-March growth forecast to 3%, a number not seen even during the worst of the global financial crisis. The main equity gauge rose about 3% on Tuesday after a record 13.2% plunge Monday, and the rupee stayed near its all-time low.

“A part of the cerebral cortex that senses fear and survival seems to have activated in the minds of investors,” said Umesh Mehta, Mumbai-based head of research at Samco Securities Ltd. “The only relief in this market can come from either policy makers and regulators, or from some positive news that a cure for the pandemic is near.”

Bloomberg Economics estimates Modi’s administration needs at least 1% of gross domestic product -- $30 billion -- to meaningfully respond to the virus outbreak. Meanwhile, the nation’s billionaires are diverting their factories to manufacture medical equipment and pledging to keep paying their staff even as production grinds to a halt. India allowed companies to use their philanthropy funds to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Reliance Industries Ltd., controlled by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, has helped equip a hospital in Mumbai dedicated to patients of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. It will also build quarantine centers and produce 100,000 facemasks a day and other personal protective equipment for health workers. The group’s telecom unit will offer free broadband to enable work-from-home during the lockdown and will pay its lowest paid workers twice a month to protect household incomes.

Ambani joins Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. Chairman Anand Mahindra and Vedanta Resources Ltd. Chairman Anil Agarwal -- a combined worth of more than $40 billion between the trio -- who have so far made pledges.

Indian companies are responding to Modi’s shutdown call. Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Toyota Kirloskar Motor, Hero MotoCorp., Samsung Electronics Co. and LG Electronics Inc., Mahindra Group, TVS Motor Co., Kia Motors Corp., Renault Nissan Automotive India Private Ltd., and Yamaha Motor India are among companies that have announced factory suspensions.

Policymakers are aware of the risks of such a move. India -- with a record 5.9 trillion rupees of local corporate debt maturing this year -- faces “waves of default” if cash flows aren’t maintained, the government’s principal economic adviser Sanjeev Sanyal said an interview.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week said the government will announce a relief package for coronavirus-affected sectors as soon as possible. The Reserve Bank of India, which is due to review interest rates April 3, announced a 1 trillion rupee cash injection on Monday.

“Let me assure, whatever it takes to keep the cash flow going in the economy will be done,” Sanyal said. “We need to make sure that when we are past the health storm, we still have an economy that has not gotten gridlocked. Because unwinding that would be more difficult.”

New Delhi, Apr 14: With 1,211 fresh cases of coronavirus reported in the last 24 hours, the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the country has reached 10,363 including 339 deaths, said Lav Aggarwal, Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, here on Tuesday.

As many as 1,036 people have recovered from the disease so far, said Aggarwal during the daily media briefing on the coronavirus. "In one day, 179 people were diagnosed and found cured," he added.

"A total of 10,363 confirmed cases have been reported in India including 339 deaths and 1,036 people, who were COVID-19 positive have recovered. Out of the total deaths, 31 deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours," said Aggarwal.

Aggarwal said that an evaluation of each district and city will be done till April 20.

"An evaluation of each district and city will be done till April 20 in which it will be evaluated what measures did that authorities take in these cities and districts to combat COVID-19," he said.

"Based on the results of this litmus test approach, permission will be granted for some selective activities to those districts and cities which controlled the situation effectively. Detailed guidelines will be issued soon," he added.