7,000 oximeters given to people in home isolation

7,000 oximeters given to people in home isolation

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Atul.Mathur@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:24.06.2020

Delhi government has started giving pulse oximeters to Covid-19 patients with mild and no symptoms who have been advised home quarantine by doctors. District officials have already distributed 6,000-7,000 pieces, a senior government official said.

Pulse Oximeter is a clip-on device that is attached to the fingertip to measure the oxygen level in the body of a patient infected by novel coronavirus. The oxygen concentration in blood is supposed to be between 95% and 100%. If it falls to 90% or below, the person requires immediate hospitalisation.

The coronavirus attacks the respiratory system, and if the infection becomes severe, a patient starts feeling breathless. Hence, doctors advise that patients should keep measuring the oxygen level every one-two hours and immediately contact district health teams if it falls below the acceptable level.

According to a senior official, Delhi government has ordered 75,000 pulse oximeters and around 46,000 have already come. “The devices are being distributed through chief district medical officers (CDMOs). A family with more than one patient will get one device,” said an official. The CDMOs have been given 29,000 oximeters and the rest will be available by the end of the week, said the official.

Once the patient recuperates, the device will have to be returned through Asha workers for sanitisation and further distribution. Each pulse oximeter is costing the government Rs 1,300, said an official.

Senior IAS officer Sanjay Goel, who is the nodal officer for procurement and supplies, said the government had also bought oxygen concentrators and ventilators to upgrade health facilities in the capital.

Goel said 4,600 oxygen concentrators were being procured, out of which 2,000 had already been received and distributed among district officials. If a patient in home isolation notices a fall in oxygen level, he will call up a centralised number and the district authorities will send a medical team with the device.

A portable oxygen concentrator is used to provide oxygen therapy to the people who require greater oxygen concentrations than the levels of ambient air. “Once the therapy is given, it will be returned to the district authorities. It is a reusable device and will be sanitised thoroughly before sending it to another patient,” Goel said.

However, the patient will immediately be hospitalised if the oxygen level does not come back to normal despite the use of the concentrator.

AN OFFICIAL SAYS

The devices are being distributed through chief district medical officers. A family with more than one patient will get one device