Bengaluru: Don’t panic & rush Covid positive children to hospitals, says BBMP

BENGALURU: Allaying fears of a dramatic spike in Covid positive cases among children in the state capital, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Saturday appealed to Bengalureans not to panic and rush infected children to hospitals.
The move comes in the backdrop of reports claiming a sudden uptick in the number of kids, in the age group of 0-9 years and 11-19 years, testing positive for Covid-19. BBMP chief commissioner Gaurav Gupta, who held discussions with the civic agency’s paediatric expert committee, categorically stated that no significant rise has been noticed in the past 20 days.
“The city was reporting a daily average of around 450-500 cases earlier, but it has now reduced to an average of 388 per day,” Gupta said.
The Palike, which evaluated paediatric cases (0-18 years) over the past four months, pointed out that such cases comprised around 11 per cent of overall Covid cases in the city. In fact, global data reviewed by the American Academy of Paediatrics showed that children represented 14.3 per cent of the overall cases. On the current scenario, the BBMP analysis added: “The total paediatric cases this month (as on Aug 13) stand at 511, which is 11.5 per cent of the overall cases. Moreover, if we look at the 0-12 age group, the total cases have reduced from 2,643 in June this year to 778 in July to 309 as on August 13.”
Ditto with hospitalisation, with a few children requiring critical care beds. Data showed there were three children out of the 29 patients in high dependency units (HDUs) and no kids in ICUs and ICU-ventilators in the city. While14 children died in Bengaluru between April and June, there have been no deaths in the past two months.
Gupta appealed to people to bring children, who are showing Covid symptoms, to the BBMP physical triage centres, primary health centres and community health centres for medical evaluation. Further, seven hospitals have been identified for paediatric care, including Indira Gandhi Institute Of Child Health. The civic agency is also coming up with a 30-bedded dedicated facility for paediatric care.
Ensure kids mask up, wash hands: Committee
The paediatric expert committee has suggested parents ensure that children above three years follow Covid-appropriate behaviour such as wearing masks, washing hands and avoiding gatherings. “The overall scenario indicates that there is no need to panic or rush positive children to hospitals. Most of them will recover on their own showing mild symptoms,” the committee added.