VIJAYAWADA: People should not panic and rush to hospitals if they have a fever or Covid-like symptoms, a senior Pulmonologist said here on Saturday.
Instead, they should sequester themselves at their residence, and use the tele-medicine facilities, Dr. N Gopichand, Head of the Department of Pulmonology at the Government General Hospital, suggested.
As the spread of infection is high, though not severe, it is advisable not to visit hospitals for little health issues,” he said in an interview with TNIE. He urged all to adhere to Covid Appropriate Behaviour.
Dr. Gopichand recommended a week’s home isolation for those infected, since it would take two to three days to get a confirmation after being exposed to the virus.
He opined that the chances of asymptomatic people -- unaware that they have been infected -- spreading the virus is more. “Hence it is advisable to keep away from gatherings for some time and stay indoors as much as possible,’’ he suggested.
Despite a higher rate of infection, the severity of the disease is less during the third Covid-19 wave, and the majority of the cases reported are mild.
"The third wave, currently sweeping across the State, has triggered a spurt in daily fresh cases, pushing the active cases up to 73,143 on Saturday from 1,145 on December 31. The daily positivity rate continues to hover above 30%," the Pulmonologist said.
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‘Vaccine helped reduce Covid hospitalisations’
Dr. Gopichand said despite the highly contagious nature of the virus, hospitalisation has been less compared to the previous two waves.
The Pulmonologist said the current wave has been seeing fewer patients requiring oxygen support compared to the second wave.
Dr. Gopichand attributed the lesser number of hospitalisations to vaccine-acquired immunity. He recommended all eligible people get the precautionary dose at the earliest to further boost their immunity.
The medical expert said it would be difficult to identify whether people are contracting the Omicron or Delta variant since genome sequencing is not possible in all cases.
“But, the fact remains that Omicron is more infectious than Delta. The treatment protocol for Covid, be it Delta or Omicron, remains the same. Getting vaccinated is the best solution we now have,” Dr Gopichand said.