Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, Jan 17: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said lockdown should be decided based on the number of patients hospitalized with Covid rather than the number of positive cases.
In a statement, DAK president Dr Nisar ul Hassan said that the hospitalization rates, not case count should determine curbs and restrictions
He said that the number of cases should not be the metric for imposing restrictions.
“Daily case count was used as a barometer early in the pandemic to impose restrictions because that time a rise in cases inevitably led to increasing in hospitalizations,” he said
DAK president said while the Omicron variant causes a lot of infections, most of the infections are mild. “Even though the positivity rate is high, most of the cases do not require hospitalization.”
“Case counts have lost relevance; hospitalization numbers are now reliable markers when it comes to assessing the threat from the pandemic,” he said.
He said that there is a need for shifting the focus on Covid-related hospitalizations, bed occupancy and the number of patients on ventilators
General Secretary DAK Dr Arshad Ali said the reason why we were tracking cases was that we were hoping we could eliminate the virus. “But it is not in the nature of the virus to get eliminated,” he said adding “we have to live with the virus and it is going to stay with us.”
Spokesperson DAK Dr Riyaz Ahmad Dagga said we have reached a point in pandemic where policy should no longer be based around the idea that we cannot resume normal life until the case number is below a particular level.
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