OXYGEN SHORTAGE KILLS!
THE majority of deaths which rose to 71 on Wednesday, May 5, are due failure in steady delivery of oxygen to covid-19 patients at the GMC. Thanks to the alertness of good Samaritan, Ashley Delaney several critical patients whose oxygen supply had diminished and emptied out severely, they were shifted to other wards where oxygen was available.
Though Chief Minister Pramod Sawant claims that adequate oxygen is available this is not so at ground level which sees a repeated shortfall in steady oxygen availability at the GMC where the oxygen is supplied through a main centralised pipeline.
Despite the supply of oxygen there are offers, including from Scoop Industry Pvt Ltd, which supplies oxygen cylinders to the government at Rs300 per cylinder, subject to a refundable deposit of Rs 5,000.
PNEUMONIA IN TWO DAYS
UNLIKE the first wave of coronavirus infection the second wave’s double mutant virus’ incubation period is very shot. A senior doctor reveals that some of those who are infected get pneumonia as quickly as within two days. Earlier, pneumonia, which marks a critical stage in the infection, would set in about a week later or may be ten days. The current variant is extremely infectious and virulent and triggers pneumonia very rapidly. Hence, covid patients need to be cautious and ensure that they are treated early in the infection and before it reaches the lungs.
NO KITS FOR HOME ISOLATED
THE majority of those who test covid positive opt for home isolation. For example on Wednesday, May5, of the total number of new cases of 3496, only 266 got admitted to hospital, with 2,592 opting for home isolation or quarantine. The cumulative number of those who opt for home isolation is as high as 60,000. Unfortunately, the Directorate of Health Services, which is supposed to provide home-based patients with covid kits which includes an oxymeter to check oxygen levels in blood and medicines, now confesses they have run out of kits. They are not even available to home-based patients with oxymeters of their own. Even the South Goa District Hospital is running short of oxymeters.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF COVID
WHILE Dhirubhai Ambani and all the IT companies may be awaiting mega bucks, a new report on the state of “Working India” estimates that about 100 million people have lost their jobs during the nationwide April to May 2020 lockdown. While most have returned to work about 15 million workers remain unemployed. The number of people below the poverty line has risen to 230 million. The worst victims are women of whom 47% lost their employment. The Delhi government has given a living allowance of Rs5,000 to taxi-drivers, auto-drivers and construction labour, respectively.
In Goa there has been no such scheme to assist labour workers who lost their jobs both in the first and now the second lockdown.
TRY SADHGURU KRIYA!
THE Goa government which is unable to provide enough beds or oxygen or even oxymeters to home isolated patients has instead asked government employees to practice “simha yogic kriya” promoted by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev. The industrialist- turned-godman is based in Coimbatore. And Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in an official order has stated that as per Central Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs those who have watched the video of this special kriya therapy have benefited by practising it to boost their immunity. Reportedly, the kriya helps strengthen respiratory system and benefits the immune system if done on light stomach two or three times a day.
DDSSYS COVID REIMBURSEMENT
UNDER the Deen Dayal Swasth Seva Yojana (DDSSY) any amount spent up to Rs19,200 per day in an ICU room will be reimbursed, as also Rs8,000 per day if patient is in a general ward; Rs19,200 per day in private room with ICU bed and ventilator. The duration limit is only for 10 days upon hospitalisation.