India's Covid-19 hospitalisation rate at 5-10%, but situation may change: Centre

New Delhi, Jan 10: India is witnessing a hospitalisation of five to 10 per cent of the active Covid cases this time but the situation is dynamic and may change rapidly, the Centre said on Monday.

During the second surge of Covid infections in the country, the percentage of active cases that needed hospital care were in the range of 20-23 per cent, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to states and Union territories.

The rise in COVID-19 cases in various parts of the country appears to be driven by the Omicron variant as well as by the continued presence of Delta, he said and stressed on augmenting human resources, particularly healthcare workers, for Covid management.

"In the present surge, five to 10 per cent of active cases needed hospitalisation so far. The situation is dynamic and evolving. Therefore, the need for hospitalization may also change rapidly," Bhushan said.

All states and Union Territories are advised to keep a daily watch on the situation of the total number of active cases, cases under home isolation, the number of hospitalized cases, cases on oxygen beds, ICU beds and on ventilatory support, he wrote.

"Based on this monitoring, the requirement of healthcare workers and their availability health facility wise must also be reviewed daily as was done during the second surge," the health secretary said.

Appreciating that while various states and Union Territories initiated steps for the establishment of jumbo health facilities, field hospitals, temporary hospitals among others, Bhushan said both infrastructure and human resources have their limitations.

with PTI inputs