the big story

The high price of getting Covid

First, the numbers: Number of cases in India: 165,348 The tally of deaths: 4,711. The caseload is rising with speed. As Times of India notes, it took us 109 days to hit 100,000, but just nine days to add another 50K. 

 

The TLDR: Private hospitals are the latest battleground in the war against the virus. As the number of cases escalate, so do patient bills. The biggest reason: the operational costs of safety protocols. Also: stingy insurance companies. We explain why a Covid-19 infection can quickly become a financial nightmare.

 

Starting with the good news…

As of last week, less than 15% of cases required hospitalisation. Of those in hospital, just 2.25% needed to be put in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Only 1.91% required oxygen, and just 0.004% required ventilators. But if you are one of the unlucky minority...

 

First, you gotta get a bed…

There are 105,000 isolation beds across 600 hospitals in the country. And private hospitals are popular. They account for 55% of in-patient care cases in India, while government hospitals only account for 42%. 

 

Key point to note: Our government policy is to isolate even patients with mild symptoms in hospitals or Covid care centres. According to an expert:

 

“The isolation of every patient is absolutely required. The countries that sent patients with mild symptoms home are now facing the consequences – their numbers have exploded.”

 

So you will need to be hospitalised even if you are not critically ill.

 

But where are the beds?

The states facing the sharpest spikes—e.g. Maharashtra and Delhi—have ordered private hospitals to step up. Maharashtra took control of 80% of such beds, while Delhi ordered that 20% be reserved. But a lot of these hospitals are not Covid-ready—and lack proper isolation wards, ICUs with ventilators, quarantine wards with oxygen supply and normal quarantine wards. 

 

Add to that our preference for private hospitals. The result: an acute shortage of beds. This week, 74 of the 82 ICU beds for Covid-19 patients in Delhi were occupied. In comparison, only 111 of 348 such beds were taken in government hospitals. And 80% of even non-ICU beds are occupied in private hospitals. In Mumbai, there is now a waiting list at the best hospitals—leading to dangerous delays in care.

 

Then you gotta get medical attention…

As a nation, we have a shortage of 600,000 doctors and 2 million nurses—and that doesn’t help in a pandemic. In Covid-19 cases, according to experts, “The ideal bed-to-nurse ratio is one-to-one and for five beds, we need one resident doctor and a senior intensive care consultant.” Not only are hospitals understaffed, but many have been forced to shut down due to infections. Mumbai is now scrambling to import medical staff from Kerala to cope with its caseload.

 

Then you get the bill...

Once admitted, patients typically are required to stay in the hospital until they test negative. 

• The cost per day for someone without ICU requirements can range from 14,000  to 32,000. And your bills are higher if you have underlying conditions—since doctors take a more aggressive approach. 
• As with any disease, the more ill you are, the more you pay—especially if you slap on expensive ICU and ventilator charges. Indian Express estimates daily ventilator charges as between Rs 1000 to Rs 2,500. Hindustan Times claims private hospitals charge between Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per day. Make of that what you will.
• An average of three to five PPE kits are used per day, and the cost per kit ranges from Rs 700 to Rs 1100. Doctors and nurses will have to change their kits every four hours. The daily cost of PPE alone ranges from Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000.
• You have to be tested repeatedly to track whether you are infection-free. Usually, patients are discharged after three to five consecutive tests turn negative. In some cases, eight to ten tests are required to get a definite result. The cost of a test: Rs 4,500.
• But you will typically have to undergo other tests for immuno-deficiency etc.—and these are far more expensive.

Indian Express estimates that Covid hospitalisations can cost anywhere from Rs 3-16 lakh—based on the treatment required. Hindustan Times estimates a total cost of Rs 2.8-3.5 lakh for a two-week stay for a “normal” case.

 

Finally, you gotta fight with insurance…

Hospitals pass on the charges of being Covid-safe to their patients. According to an insurance expert, “These charges include the cost of PPE billed at as high as Rs 5,000-9,000 a day; care and hygiene, and waste management charges, which are otherwise part of the room rates.” And insurance companies will not cover that part of the bill. Also excluded: oxygen masks which can account for almost 20-25% of hospital bills.

 

Point to note: You have to pay these safety-related costs even if you are not a Covid patient. PPE charges apply to all patients in the hospitals now. And no, insurers will definitely not cover that part of your bill.

 

The reading list

• Hindustan Times and Indian Express have the most detailed analysis of the costs.
• Mint and Moneycontrol cover the insurance angle.
• The Hindu looks at allegations of price-gouging at private hospitals.
• The Print looks at the Supreme Court’s recent push for free or subsidised care at private hospitals.
• The Telegraph has the most details on the bed shortage.

 

Image: Kelly Sikkema / Unsplash

Ten-year-old Souparnika Nair got a standing ovation from the audience and judges for her audition on Britain’s Got Talent. We totally ❤️  that the flower in her hair is perfectly accessorised to match her dress!

Belated relief for migrant workers

The Supreme Court has finally stepped in to rescue migrant workers from the great suffering caused by the government’s so-called remedy, i.e. Shramik trains (details in our explainer). Yesterday, it issued a series of directives:

• Workers will not be charged for bus or train tickets.
• All of them will be provided food by the state or Union Territory where they are currently waiting to go home. The venues for the distribution of meals will be widely publicised.
• These states will also provide food and water for train or bus journeys.
• Destination states must expedite the registration of migrant workers to make them eligible to go home.
• Migrant workers found walking on the roads must immediately be taken to shelters.
• When any state puts in a request for a train, the Railways must comply.

 

Everybody wants a bit of Jio

Ever since the big Facebook announcement, Reliance has been on a roll! It is currently in talks with all sorts of big hitters eager to buy a slice of its Jio Platforms—that bundle all its telecommunication offerings. The latest is the Abu Dhabi-owned venture fund Mubadala that has put $1 billion on the table. Also in this swayamvar line: Twitter, Microsoft and Google. There is lots of buzz about a Wall Street IPO. Point to note: Google is also flirting with Vodafone. (Reuters)

 

The Premier League is baaack!

Despondent football fans rejoice! The Premier League is set to restart on June 17 with Aston Villa v Sheffield United and Manchester City v Arsenal. All matches will be played behind closed doors and broadcast live on TV. Liverpool bahut khush hua. One fly in this balm to the sports fan’s soul: Four (unnamed) English Premier League players have tested positive. The virus has now spread across three clubs—right when the league has initiated ‘contact training’, i.e. teams can now train as a group and tackle each other on the field. (ESPN)

 

Shopping for clothes is back!

Indians are indeed back to buying apparel—but it's mostly sleepwear or comfortable tees. And industry experts are upbeat about the future of clothes shopping:

 

“I understand there will not be as many occasions to socialize, but consumers are not eating out, travelling and are probably deferring the car purchase. Yes, they will spend more on food and other essentials, but clothing falls in between and they will spend on it.”

 

A recent survey of affluent consumers shows that 58% are eager to shop again, and 76% are eager to visit a store. (Mint)

 

Covid alert in the skies

Two SpiceJet passengers on a flight from Ahmedabad to Guwahati tested positive. They have been quarantined—as has the entire operating crew. This is going to happen a lot. What inquiring minds want to know: Why didn’t that mandatory Arogya Setu app flag their status? 

 

The Covid effect: a short edition

• Economists and analysts alike have arrived at an alarming consensus: “India’s economy will face its worst recession in 40 years, contracting by at least 5% this fiscal [year]."
• Sex workers are headed back to work in Switzerland—which, however, does not plan to lift the ban on sports. Hmm...
• Bangladesh garment manufacturers have found a novel solution to their industry woes. Beximco Group plans to invest $20 million to set up a mask manufacturing unit in Detroit. It is also setting up a $30 million mask manufacturing plant in Bangladesh.
• This is how people will operate a lift in Thailand.

An update on the latest Covid gyaan

• Washington Post explains why the virus will never go away—even if we develop a vaccine.
• Face masks work! A new study shows that they can reduce the spread by up to 99%, and even a simple cloth mask can help. But the more layers the better.
• Fitbits as Covid trackers? The company is conducting trials to see whether its devices can detect the onset of the disease before a person shows any symptoms. 
• New York Magazine has an excellent read on why central air conditioning systems do such a good job of recirculating both air and—sadly—the virus.

 

Does Hindustan Times have a dirty secret?

Jubilant Generics is a subsidiary of Jubilant Life Sciences—which is a pharmaceutical company founded by Shyam S. Bhartia. He is the husband of Shobhana Bhartia, chairperson of HT Media and owner of Hindustan Times. Also this: Back in April, 74 out of the 90 Covid-19 cases in Mysore were traced to a single source—Jubilant Generics. But there was no Tablighi-sized outrage over it. The media blog Churumuri offers a long and intriguing read on how and why this story may have been covered up.

 

Dear God, this is Narendra

HarperCollins plans to publish an anthology of the letters our PM wrote to the mother goddess as a young man. Addressed to 'jagat janani', he wrote one every night right before he went to bed. The publisher’s statement quotes Modi as saying:

 

"I am not a writer, most of us are not; but everybody seeks expression, and when the urge to unload becomes overpowering there is no option but to take pen and paper, not necessarily to write but to introspect and unravel what is happening within the heart and the head and why."

Can’t hardly wait for the monsoons thanks to this blistering heat? Enjoy Ariana Grande and Lady Gaga as “Chromatica Weather Girls” in this video for their new collab, ‘Rain On Me’.

smart & curious

A list of intriguing things

• A Kerala startup has developed an app called BevQ to tackle those rugby-sized scrums outside liquor stores. Now we all can virtually queue up instead.
• Speaking of apps, the Remote Cheerer developed by Yamaha allows fans following a match on TV, the radio or online to cheer or boo players—and be heard loud and clear in the stadium.
• ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ is getting a socially distanced makeover on Broadway. Its choreographer has taken out “anything involving people being very close to each other.”
• So we couldn’t watch Elon Musk launch NASA astronauts into space thanks to bad weather. But we can still admire these Mandalorian-esque space suits.

Short list of good reads

• BBC talks to Martin Scorcese about the anxiety and freedom of making a short movie in isolation. Yes, he made a movie!
• Washington Post has a fun piece on how lockdowns have changed recipe purists: Optional is the new buzzword in culinary gyaan!
• We greatly enjoyed this first-person read in Indian Express: How the pandemic broke long-held religious (and gendered) rules in Muslim homes.
• So how did Victorian women work out? In corsets and according to a guide written by a man, of course. Atlas Obscura has more.

Dating apps ruin your mental health

Duh! New research confirms what most of us already know: the experience of swipe-based dating apps leads to "higher rates of psychological distress and/or depression." Also: folks are spending way more time on these apps than ever. (Big Think)

 

Is it safe to go back to the gym?

Gyms have “a relatively high density of people exercising and sweating in a contained space”—i.e. they are super germ-friendly. But there is a protocol you can adopt to stay safe: Wash. Spray. Wait. Wipe. (New York Times via The Telegraph) 

 

Here’s the right way to fly

The first step is determining whether you really, really have to get on the plane. If the answer is yes, here’s a comprehensive and useful guide to keeping yourself Covid-free. (NPR)

David-Bali! The Aussie batsman gave himself a makeover on Insta—much to the delight of Indian fans.

 

A stunning archaeological find in Italy is making news: an almost perfectly preserved mosaic floor of a villa that may date back to third century AD.

 

Look: Ravioli starfish! This may be the most delicious looking marine life ever.

 

Look: Bedtime stories for absurdly adorable puppies… read by a dinosaur!

Let’s play a game: which photo is not like the others? 😂