55,000 People Are On A Triage Waiting List Due To Lack Of Official Approval In Karnataka

The number of new Covid-19 cases in Karnataka skyrocketed since the last month, due to which several steps had been taken by the state to monitor and surveillance the state's medical infrastructure, to maintain the balance and not to let it overburden.

The state is seeking to keep a lid on the problem by implementing new triaging rules and deploying 10,000 medics for tele-triaging. But the triaging process has been plagued by technical issues, resulting in thousands of people being placed on the government's waiting list. Triaging plays an essential role because the modality of therapy home isolation or hospitalisation is determined only after patients have been examined at triaging centres.

There were 55,306 patients on the waiting list as of 4 p.m. on Sunday. This is due to the fact that their cases have yet to be confirmed by district surveillance officers (DSO). The waiting list is volatile, and authorization was still pending for only 33,000 applications a week ago. Bengaluru has only 41,024 such cases on the waiting list as of Sunday, followed by Mysuru, Tumakuru, Dharwad, and Mandya. These five districts tally for 47,961 of the 55,306 pending cases, or 87 percent.

While officials highlighted that no patient in need of medical treatment has been turned away as a result of the problem. A top health official remarked that all the cases had been recieved top priority but however the issue must need to be solved.

A senior official from the state surveillance unit (SSU) of the health and family welfare department said that when testing labs create a Covid-19 positive result, DSOs must acknowledge them and indicate the patient truly belongs to their respective areas. Randeep D, the state's health commissioner explained tha the delay in DSO permissions is due to technological issues with the unique platform they utilise to do so. The matter has been brought to his attention, and they are working to resolve it.

Previously, DSOs had direct access to the ICMR portal. After the second wave of infections, however, this access was revoked. According to Randeep, the health department is attempting to restore access to the ICMR portal.

Meanwhile, the government has also warned people not to panic because Omicron, a novel form of SARS-CoV2, has only been causing moderate infections and most patients are asymptomatic. On Saturday, Health Minister K Sudhakar remarked that many people seek hospitalisation because they are afraid, even if they are asymptomatic or mildly ill.