Populations in the urban poor and rural India aren’t prepared for dealing with the Coronavirus infection at home. A survey conducted by the research organisation Sambodhi states that many don’t have basic medical equipment to check and monitor the vital health parameters of a person. Many households even lack awareness about symptoms of Covid-19. The survey was carried out in 10 states.
The study said, "Only 9 per cent households had oximeters while a dismal 3 per cent had access to oxygen cylinders. Also, only 40 per cent of respondents were aware of medical suppliers/shops nearby to access in case they had COVID symptoms.”
The survey conducted by Sambodhi members is an initiative by Research and Communications. The survey was conducted between June 30 and July 11 in states - Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan. People in these states are uninformed about the new variants and the risk and symptoms associated with them.
The survey has been issued just after the peak of the second wave of the pandemic and when several states have eased the Covid restrictions. It followed after experts cautioned about the possibility of a third wave hitting the country by September.
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The survey conducted in July 2021, shows that among the 7,116 households only around 20 per cent had thermometers and about 50 per cent had medicines available to treat symptoms like fever, headaches.
The survey revealed that participants did not know when to admit a patient who has the covid disease. About 35 per cent of the respondents said that patients should be hospitalised at the onset of the first symptom of Coronavirus, while 18 per cent had said that when the test result shows positive it was enough to get that person to hospitalize.
"It seems that there is a need to increase information dissemination among vulnerable sections of society on newer Covid variants, associated symptoms and recommended treatment protocols so that people take appropriate measures," said Swapnil Shekhar, Co-Founder, Sambodhi.
In a positive outcome of the survey, about 88% of people are having the understanding of how to homecare a Covid positive patient and 70 per cent of respondents said they had arrangements for isolating Covid positive family members and 76 per cent said they can arrange meals for them.
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About 95% of participants could relate to at least one of Covid’s early symptoms, such as fever, dry cough, difficulty in breathing and headaches. And only 18 per cent of them associated diarrhoea with Covid-19 and just 4 per cent and 2 per cent with conjunctivitis and skin rashes respectively.