MUMBAI: The BMC is toying with the idea of a community response system to be able to pinpoint Covid-19 cases, especially among the elderly.
“We may involve community health workers to periodically visit certain buildings or housing complexes to keep tabs on residents, especially those who are elderly,” said a senior civic official. Such a system is already available in the slum and slum-like pockets. “But in housing colonies, we may ask the security personnel or sweepers who interact with residents regularly to help community health workers gather health-related information,” he said, adding that a pilot project may be conducted in one ward to study the feasibility.
When asked, additional municipal commissioner of the BMC Suresh Kakani said that a meeting has been scheduled next week with corporators to discuss how to integrate the municipal corporation’s field machinery in the detection of Covid-19.
This is a part of the civic corporation’s efforts to cut down the death rates in the city. The BMC’s daily update shows that 4,879 (81%) of the 5,981 deaths occurred among those more than 50 years of age. More than half of the deaths have occurred among those who are over 60 years of age.
Last week, the BMC passed a directive stating that senior citizens with comorbidity who test positive for Covid-19 would be told to get admitted in a hospital even if they have mild symptoms. The idea is to stop complications from arising, said civic officials.
“We have two modes to deal with senior citizens who test positive for Covid-19. We will first try to convince them to get admitted in a hospital so that complications can be prevented,” Kakani said. “If they don’t agree, then we will ask them to call us twice to give us their status update. In case their symptoms worsen, they can be transferred to a nearby facility immediately,” he added.
The BMC was the first body in the country to launch a house-to-house survey and also the use of pulse oximeter to measure oxygen concentration among senior citizens.
Studies have shown that older people are greatly impacted by Covid-19 not only due to the “physiological changes” associated with ageing, but they also have decreased immunity and multiple underlying health conditions such as diabetes or hypertension.
While many senior citizens, including some over 90 years of age, have been successfully treated after they got infected, statistics across the world underline their vulnerability.
Senior citizens make up for a fraction of the total Covid-19 cases, but they account for the largest group as far as mortality is concerned. Consider the Maharashtra government’s break-up of the state’s 3,46,571 cases up to July 23: people over 60 years of age accounted for 17% of the total cases.
“We may involve community health workers to periodically visit certain buildings or housing complexes to keep tabs on residents, especially those who are elderly,” said a senior civic official. Such a system is already available in the slum and slum-like pockets. “But in housing colonies, we may ask the security personnel or sweepers who interact with residents regularly to help community health workers gather health-related information,” he said, adding that a pilot project may be conducted in one ward to study the feasibility.
When asked, additional municipal commissioner of the BMC Suresh Kakani said that a meeting has been scheduled next week with corporators to discuss how to integrate the municipal corporation’s field machinery in the detection of Covid-19.
This is a part of the civic corporation’s efforts to cut down the death rates in the city. The BMC’s daily update shows that 4,879 (81%) of the 5,981 deaths occurred among those more than 50 years of age. More than half of the deaths have occurred among those who are over 60 years of age.
Last week, the BMC passed a directive stating that senior citizens with comorbidity who test positive for Covid-19 would be told to get admitted in a hospital even if they have mild symptoms. The idea is to stop complications from arising, said civic officials.
“We have two modes to deal with senior citizens who test positive for Covid-19. We will first try to convince them to get admitted in a hospital so that complications can be prevented,” Kakani said. “If they don’t agree, then we will ask them to call us twice to give us their status update. In case their symptoms worsen, they can be transferred to a nearby facility immediately,” he added.
The BMC was the first body in the country to launch a house-to-house survey and also the use of pulse oximeter to measure oxygen concentration among senior citizens.
Studies have shown that older people are greatly impacted by Covid-19 not only due to the “physiological changes” associated with ageing, but they also have decreased immunity and multiple underlying health conditions such as diabetes or hypertension.
While many senior citizens, including some over 90 years of age, have been successfully treated after they got infected, statistics across the world underline their vulnerability.
Senior citizens make up for a fraction of the total Covid-19 cases, but they account for the largest group as far as mortality is concerned. Consider the Maharashtra government’s break-up of the state’s 3,46,571 cases up to July 23: people over 60 years of age accounted for 17% of the total cases.
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