In Omicron wave, patients having shorter hospital stay of 3-4 days: BMC

MUMBAI: Doctors are witnessing a shorter duration of hospital stay among Covid patients in the current Omicron wave. Preliminary observations show that even as hundreds are getting hospitalised daily, the majority are getting discharged within three to four days, while those with multiple comorbidities and oxygen requirements are staying longer.

“Few have developed Covid pneumonia or required high-level care. We are able to discharge patients in 3-4 days in most cases,” Suresh Kakani, BMC additional municipal commissioner told TOI. He said the biggest departure from the Delta wave so far has been the insignificant need for supplemental oxygen in most hospitalised patients. The city’s cumulative requirement, despite having nearly 5,100 patients in dedicated Covid hospitals and dedicated Covid health centres, has not crossed 25-30MT.

A shorter turnaround time has been noted by private hosp-itals too, compared to the previous Delta-driven wave when patients would typically stay for 7-14 days. Though early to comment, the duration of hospitalization is as low as 2-3 days, and oxygen support or ICU requirement is limited to only elderly patients with comorbidities at present, said Dr Abdul Samad Ansari, director of critical care at Nanavati Hospital.

Dr

Gautam Bhansali

said up to 80% of his patients have gone home within three days. “In the Delta wave, the second week used to be crucial as the cytokine storm would set in. So, hospitalisations would stretch till 10-14 days and beyond for more critical patients. We haven’t seen that in many patients yet,” he added.

A modelling done by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research based on data from South Africa and the UK expects deaths to be 30% to 50% of the previous second wave, and hospitalization to be “50-70% of the peak seen under Delta”.

Dr

S Narayani

, zonal director of Fortis Hospitals Mumb-ai, concurred that days of hosp-italization this time around are lesser as compared to earlier, and the mild symptoms have prompted them to encourage early discharges. “Those who are asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic are encouraged to opt for home care,” she said.

However, experts cautioned that the stay still depends on multiple factors, including age, stage of the disease, comorbidities of the infected individual and vaccination status. Dr

Neelam Andrade

, dean of Nesco jumbo Covid hospital in

Goregaon

, said that the average hospital stay was 10 days in the second wave which has dropped to seven days now. “But in elderly, unvaccinated persons with lung involvement, the duration could be longer,” she said.