India, January 5, 2022: As Covid-19 continues to surge in the country, with close to 38k infections recorded on Tuesday, January 4, 2022, Covid-related doctor consultations see a massive jump of 50% more than the previous day. The daily consultations have gone up more than 2.5 times since Jan 1st, according to Practo (India’s largest integrated healthcare company) Insights.
This is the highest single-day increase in doctor consultations in 120 days, since the decline of the deadly second wave. More than 50% of all doctor consultations are for GPs and Pulmonologists with major concerns like fever, sore throat, headache, body pain, stuffy nose, Omicron spread, Covid-19 vaccine booster doses, and vaccines for children, among others.
Around 85% of these queries have come from metro cities, some of which are witnessing a steady rise in the number of positive cases every day. At 132%, Mumbai saw the highest growth in GP-related consultations since Jan 1st, followed by Kolkata (106%), Delhi NCR (95%), Bangalore (75%), Chennai (47%) and Hyderabad (42%). Queries in non metro cities increased by 53% during the same time period. Over 50% of these consultations came from those in the age group 21-30, followed by 31-40 (40%), 41-50 (10%).
“We have seen a massive surge in the number of covid cases in the last one week indicating the start of a third wave. The festive season is one of the main reasons for the increase as people failed to follow covid protocols and gatherings became a super-spreader events. As seen during the first and second wave, telemedicine will continue to be a life saver, enabling people to reach out to medical professionals virtually. Digital healthcare companies like Practo are taking efforts to ensure that access to medical healthcare during these times is never a challenge for the people”, said Dr. Belliappa, a senior GP practicing on Practo.
