New Delhi, Jul 3 (UNI) Delhi and Mumbai are on the road to recovery with a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, whereas other cities are witnessing a spurt, Indian Medical Association chief Dr KK Aggarwal has said.
“COVID-19 is not going away soon as India is a densely populated country. Although, there is a decline in the number of cases of Mumbai and Delhi, yet other cities may be see a rise as we can’t siege it," the Padma Shri awardee and renowned interventional cardiologist said during the HEAL-Thy Samvaad Episode-2 organised on Thursday.
'It may stay for two years or more, but we needn’t fear. We need to understand and learn how to live with it. For this, we need to be cautious, wear masks compulsorily and maintain social distancing; avoid gathering in close spaces as the exposure will be less in the open, he further added.
Speaking on the ways to prevent doctors from contracting the virus, he said, “It is obvious that doctors are at a higher risk because of their repeated exposure to the virus and while the absence of isolation rooms in India is also one of the causes, to ease the burden upon the hospitals and safeguard the doctors, home quarantine is an effective solution."
"More than 80 per cent of COVID-19 cases have mild symptoms, so it can be managed at home with the help of telemedicine — this way, we will save the doctors. We can also try this at the community level rather than visiting the hospitals. We can fix a house for COVID-19, and put all positive patients of the community there with masking. Hence, home isolation seems to be the solution. More so, telemedicine and home isolation are the gifts of COVID-19 to the medical fraternity," Dr Aggarwal added.
Deliberating on why some people are getting sick while others are not, Dr JC Suri, Chairman, JCS Institute of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine said, “Of the people getting infected with COVID-19 and falling sick, 80 pc are with mild symptoms, 15 pc with severity to be admitted to the hospitals and 5 pc with extreme conditions to be admitted in ICUs. When the virus enters our body, it is dealt by the body resistance. This resistance is of two types — the innate immunity and the acquired immunity. If one’s innate immunity is strong, one can fight back the virus, if not, it will move towards severity."
"There are so many factors that impact innate immunity — sleep is one of them, a sound sleep of 7-8 hour works as a natural immune booster. If young are falling sick, there is a genetic factor. There are demographic factors also as we have seen the high mortality rate in Spain, Germany and the USA," he added.
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