THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the past one-and-a-half months, the state has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 positive cases. However, one silver lining is the number of people who have recovered from the viral disease.As on Saturday, 2,36,989 people have officially recovered from the disease. But, as the ordeal of Dr Kavitha Ravi, the additional professor of pathology at the Ernakulam Medical College, shows, Covid leaves a trail of complications like inflammation on feet, breathlessness and lack of sleep that may turn dangerous if not treated properly.
Dr Kavitha, 50, was admitted to the Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, on July 31. She was there for 12 days. The daughter of journalist-turned-Congress legislator Thoppil Ravi, Kavitha contracted the disease while on duty as an examiner at a private medical college. “I was wearing all protective gears like the PPE kit, face shield, gloves and N95 mask. Still I got infected. At the time of admission, I only had slight fever, headache and throat ache,” she said. But on the seventh day of admission, she developed high fever, breathlessness and fatigue.
On discharge, she was quarantined at her home. But the severe fatigue affected her normal sleep, making her dependent on sedatives for a few days. Severe breathlessness left her with no energy to even sit on the bed, she said. What worried her most was that she had undergone an angioplasty 45 days before the coronavirus infection. “Despite testing negative for Covid, I developed wheezing. And blood started clotting on my feet resulting in inflammation,” she said.
“One of the side effects of Covid-19 is that coronavirus activates the blood clotting mechanism. Singer S P Balasubrahmanyam’s death was caused by blood clots in the lungs. Fortunately, my condition did not worsen because I was already on blood thinners for my heart condition,” said Dr Kavitha.Identifying the long-term effects of the disease, Tamil Nadu has started Post-Covid Care Clinics. The department of pulmonary medicine and cardiology at Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences in Kochi has launched its point-of-care multi-disciplinary post Covid Care Clinic on Saturday. It is high time the state started Post-Covid Care Clinics at the public sector.