66% of those in Mumbai Covid ICUs are incidental patients

MUMBAI: Almost two-third patients in Mumbai’s Covid intensive care units are those admitted for other reasons but incidentally tested positive during routine screening. Doctors across hospitals said these patients are not suffering from Covid complications but are occupying Covid ICU beds as they have tested positive. That said, demand for Covid ICUs is comparatively less in this wave.
Nearly 1,000 Covid ICU beds out of 3,000 reserved for the viral disease in the city are occupied at present.“The trend of people being hospitalised in critical units ‘with Covid’ rather than ‘for Covid’ is being seen world over during the third wave,” said Dr Rahul Pandit, an intensivist and member of the state Covid taskforce. At his ICU in Mulund’s Fortis Hospital, Covid-19 is not the primary ailment in 65% of patients.
In Andheri’s Kokilaben Hospital, almost 80% of ICU patients are ‘incidental Covid’ cases, said executive director Dr Santosh Shetty. “Patients who are admitted with heart attacks, strokes, kidney diseases and even accidents are testing positive for Covid when they are screened as part of our routine protocol,” he said, adding that his 35-bed Covid ICU is filling up with people who don’t have Covid complications.
The same trend is visible at other hospitals too. When a seven-year-old girl was brought in gasping to the emergency ward of Bhatia Hospital last week, doctors assumed it was Covid induced. But when tests were carried out, it turned out her heart function was down to 20%. She did test positive though when an RT-PCR was carried out. Intensivist Dr Gunjan Chanchalani said up to 40% of their patients who were coming for stroke or heart problems were turning out to be positive.
Dr Pandit said once ‘incidental’ patients come to an ICU, they are no doubt treated for the primary ailment but they cannot be moved out before ten days. “In terms of Covid symptoms, most are either asymptomatic or have a scratchy throat that heals in a few days,” he said. Dr Chanchalani said since the Centre’s new testing guidelines were released on January 10, they have stopped swabbing all patients. In the third wave, most patients are not deteriorating unless they have premorbid conditions, or they are elderly, said Dr Niteen Karnik, head of medicine of Sion Hospital.