Many patients found COVID positive while being admitted for other diseases in Delhi: Expert

New Delhi [India], August 18 : Owing to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the national capital, there has been a nearly two-fold increase in hospitalisations in the last 15 days, a health official said on Thursday.
According to Dr Gauri Shankar Sharma, Director, Critical Care, Fortis Hospital, Vasant Kunj, the majority of patients admitted are those with other health issues who also test positive for Covid19.
"The number of patients admitted for COVID positivity has increased significantly. But I've noticed two types of people seeking admission: those who were hospitalised for other health issues and accidentally tested positive for COVID, and those who are at high risk and are terrified because COVID has struck them. As a result, they wanted to be noticed, " Dr Sharma said.
Dr Sharma added that the majority of patients require ICU due to the illness that brought them to the hospital; COVID is more commonly an incidental or associated finding in them.
All patients who tested positive for COVID received two doses, but patients in ICU are classified as having comorbidities, Sharma said.
"The vast majority have been immunised. Despite the fact that the booster, the precautionary penetration rate is low, the majority of them have received a couple of doses of vaccination. Immunocompromised and elderly are usually ending up in the ICU. It is not due to COVID, but to other illnesses, with COVID acting as an additional disease," he said.
COVID has caused a lot of changes, including mental changes like disrupted sleep and social withdrawal, but most patients usually end up in OPD and seeing a psychiatrist or neurologist, Dr Sharma said.