After screening about 31,000 senior citizens for COVID-19 in Mumbai for two days, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) identified 104 people who had low blood oxygen levels and referred them for oxygen therapy.
Age-related factors, co-morbidities and lack of oxygen support have turned out to be major factors in the city’s COVID-19 mortality rate. After many patients required oxygen support, the BMC recently directed that all isolation beds and intensive care unit beds must have oxygen support.
Besides, the BMC has started a door-to-door survey focusing on senior citizens. Around 31,000 elderly people were screened since Sunday by 400 teams of community health volunteers and ASHAs. During the survey, 4,312 of them were found to have co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension and asthma. When their blood oxygen level was monitored, 104 were found to have oxygen saturation below 95% in blood.
Since they are vulnerable to COVID-19, they have been referred for oxygen therapy in designated hospitals. The BMC has set aside 300 beds for oxygen therapy in non-COVID-19 hospitals.
The teams carrying out the survey are also creating awareness among communities on the novel coronavirus, how to take care of senior citizens and where to report symptoms.