India crosses 1L daily mark for new COVID 19 cases as of yesterday; New curbs including night curfews, weekend lockdowns implemented in few states
Omicron, the new variant
The latest Covid-19 variant, Omicron is causing fears among all be it policymakers, healthcare professionals, working professionals or homemakers. This has been called a variant of concern by WHO based on the evidence that it has several mutations that can have an impact on how it behaves. There is, though, substantial research going on to evaluate its total risk. Early findings suggest that it is less severe than the Delta variant, though there is more research to be undertaken to have a clear answer. Based on the information available, WHO believes that it is spreading faster than the other variants.
Impact
The governments across the country have been looking at the situation very closely and have been announcing measures based on the severity of the situation at the places. The alerts have already been made to the healthcare system to be ready for the situation. The offices have started returning back to WFH from hybrid mode and night curfews or notices about Omicron safety measures are getting put in place. Amidst all this, we as a nation have started an immunization programme for our 15-18 years old population in addition to the vaccination of the adult population which is already underway.
Keeping Caregivers and Careseekers safe
It will be important to implement safety measures at the clinic to ensure the safety of caregivers, their staff and the care seekers. The use of Below safety measures will help ensure the safety of all
- Use PPE kit while treating patients
- Check vaccination status of patients visiting you
- Ensure temperature check and proper sanitization of the patient
- Proper sanitization of the clinic at regular intervals
- Ask patients to keep you informed if they develop any symptoms post visiting you
- Go your contactless payments and transactions wherever possible
- Avoid too many people at the clinic and ask them to come at the time of the appointment
- Encourage online bookings and online consultations, wherever possible
Reduce pressure on physical infrastructure
We may see a surge in the visits to the clinics and hospitals during this time and hence there may be pressure on the limited physical infrastructure available to treat patients. It is also important to ensure that we use them judiciously to ensure that people who need them the most are able to receive care. We spoke to Dr. Haleema Yezdani, a noted physician and telemedicine expert, and her views are as below
“We, as healthcare professionals, can’t curtail our services at this point to a particular area. Rather, with the help of technology we can help care seekers across places and reduce pressure at local levels” Dr. Haleema Yezdani, Telemedicine Expert
The healthcare professionals shall also encourage and embrace the use of online consultations wherever possible to ensure the safety of both the care seeker and the caregiver.
We, at icareheal, are at the forefront with our all-one platform for clinics and doctors with which they can provide these services with ease to their patients and keep themselves safe too.
