COVID is a 'mild disease', less than 5% of patients need ventilator, says AIIMS chief Randeep Guleria

Coronavirus is mostly a “mild disease” and there is no need to panic, AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria said at a press conference in Delhi on Sunday. The AIIMS director, appealing to the public not to hoard Remdesevir or oxygen cylinders at home, said 85 to 90 percent of people get only mild coronavirus infections. “If we talk about the current situation of COVID-19, there is panic in public, Due to this panic, people are putting injections in their houses, hoarding of the Remdesivir drug and oxygen cylinder has started with this. And because of this, we are facing a shortage of supply and unnecessary panic is being created,” Guleria said.

#WATCH | AIIMS Director Dr Guleria says, "...Remdesivir not a magic bullet, it's given to only patients who are hospitalised, have moderate to severe disease & whose oxygen saturation is below 93...Don't misuse Oxygen & Remdesivir. Most patients can recover by isolating at home." pic.twitter.com/jx7oUIXIOw

— ANI (@ANI) April 25, 2021

The press conference was attended by Medanta chairperson Dr Naresh Trehan, professor and Head of Department of Medicine AIIMS Dr Naveet Wig, and director general Health Services Dr Sunil Kumar. He further noted that the coronavirus infection is a normal infection. “About 85 to 90 percent of people get symptoms such as  fever, cold, body ache, and cough and in these cases, one doesn’t need Remdesivir or other large numbers of medicines.” The AIIMS chief also said home remedies and yoga can also be used to treat oneself, along with medicines. “You will back to normal and get well within seven or 10 days. You don’t need to put Remdesivir or oxygen in your house.” According to the AIIMS director, 10 to 15 percent of people may get a severe infection and need extra medicine such as Remdesivir, oxygen or plasma. Less than five percent of patients need to be operated on a ventilator, he added. “If we see this data, it shows that there is no need to panic. If one gets a positive report, he/she shouldn’t rush to the hospital or get medical oxygen. It’s a wrong belief and it will create an unnecessary shortage of oxygen.We need to understand that it is a mild disease and only 10 to 15 percent of cases get severe,” he added. Medanta chairman Dr Trehan said that 90 percent of COVID patients can recover at home if they are provided with correct medicines on time. “As soon as your RT-PCR report comes positive, my advice would be to consult your local doctor with whom you are in touch. All doctors know the protocol and will begin your treatment accordingly. Ninety percent of patients can recover at home if given correct medicines on time.” Trehan also claimed that the oxygen shortage will end in five or six days because the production and transport of the crucial medical resource have been ramped up. “The oxygen shortage has occurred because earlier, we used to require 2,000 MT of oxygen per day but now the requirement is 7,000-8,000 MT. However, the production units don’t have that capacity. Though the industrial units have the capacity, they are facing obstacles to transport the liquid oxygen. This is being tackled by various stakeholders like government and healthcare officials, so in five-six days this situation could be settled,” he said. Dr Sunil Kumar, HOD of Medicine, AIIMS on the other hand said that all district officials must monitor the district’s positivity rate and to aim to keep it below 1 to 5 percent. “Mumbai had 26 percent of positivity rate at one point but after severe restrictions, it came down to 14 percent. While Delhi is struggling at 30 percent. We must impose strict restrictions,” Kumar said. He expressed confidence that India will be able to bring down the positivity rate to less than five percent in the next three weeks if all citizens wore their face masks and abide by all COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. “Stay positive, look after your health and limit your intake of news,” advised Dr Kumar. India has been registering more than three lakh new COVID-19 cases and over 2,000 related deaths on a daily basis since 15 April. On Sunday, the country reported a single-day rise of 3,49,691 COVID-19 infections and 2,767 fatalities, pushing India’s tally of cases to 1,69,60,172, toll to 1,92,311, according to the Union health ministry’s data.