At GMC, Yavatmal, dean Milind Kamble said that the only thing that separated the current incidence with the September peak is the infection of entire families. “We have at least six families whose all members are affected and currently hospitalised,” he said, adding that the hospital currently has 221 patients of which 95 are critical. “All critical patients have pneumonia, some with involvement of 4-5 lung lobes. Most have delayed coming to hospital by 10-12 days,” he said. The hospital’s oxygen requirement has jumped since January 15 when cases started to rise.
Dr Suresh Asole, district health officer of Akola, said that they have as many active cases now (2,319) as they had in September (1,981). “We are not overwhelmed currently as most patients are stable,” he said.