Fever cases rising in Salem amid Covid fear

SALEM: Fever cases are on the rise in the district which has recorded widespread rain in the last few weeks. Most hospitals and clinics reported an increase in footfall of patients, children, in particular, complaining of fever.

Government hospitals across the district reported 1,034 fever cases in the month of September and 629 cases as of October 12.

Since fever is a symptom of Covid-19, people are rushing to health care centres to confirm if it is viral fever or Covid.

V Swami (58), a resident of Gorimedu, said he was down with fever and cough last week and rushed to a clinic. “ I saw more than 20 people waiting to see the doctor and all were fever cases. Doctors are asking us to take blood tests. With Covid-19 not yet eradicated, this creates additional fear,” he added.

Malar of Angammal Colony said her four-year-old daughter had to be hospitalised for fever. “Over 50 parents brought their children to the hospital while I was there and everybody complained of fever,” she said.

A paediatrician in the city said the people were rushing to hospitals due to Covid-19 fear. “Not all fever are symptoms of Covid-19. However, people should not ignore fever or flu-like symptoms and should visit a doctor immediately,” he said.  Parents must monitor if children are active and eat well, he added.

Health officials said most of the fever cases were mosquito-borne and that they had deployed domestic breeding checkers to visit every household and check for water stagnation. “Water distributed to the residents in Salem is double chlorinated. People should wash the water tanks at houses before storing water as it would remove larvae,” the officials said.

Salem City Municipal Corporation (SCMC) Commissioner T Chirsturaj said they would soon conduct mass camps and raise awareness and remove mosquito breeding sources. District Deputy Director for Health Services Nalini was unavailable for comments.