New Delhi (NVI): Due to the stigma over Covid-19, there has been an increase in morbidity and mortality rate as patients are not coming forward on time, but only after they have developed symptoms or their condition has worsened, AIIMS Director Randeep Guleria said today.
“Due to the stigma we have attached, patients are not coming forward, they are coming very late when they have severe breathlessness issues, thereby increasing morbidity and mortality,” Guleria said during the daily briefing held by Union Health Ministry.
The AIIMS Director said that many of these patients can be saved by just giving them oxygen. “If they do not get oxygen, it can trigger various other problems, our strategy of expanding oxygen support is based on this,” he said.
The Union Health Ministry, during its press briefing, said that the growth of COVID-19 cases in the country has been more or less linear, not exponential. “This indicates that the strategies we have adopted have succeeded in containing the infection to a particular level,” said CK Mishra- Union Environment Secretary and the Chairman of Empowered Group 2 set up by the Centre.
The Chairman further stated that the number of dedicated COVID Hospitals has increased by 3.5 times and the number of isolation beds by 3.6 times during the last one-month lockdown period.
“There are more than 3,773 dedicated Covid facilities as on date, more are being added by the day,” he added.
Meanwhile, total coronavirus cases in India have spiked to 21,700 with 686 deaths so far. A total of 4,325 people have been cured or discharged from hospitals. There are around 16,689 active cases currently.
