HERE's a quick update on COVID-19 as of 31 October 2021 from L&T’s Medical & Welfare Department .
SITUATION UPDATE
As COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, so does our understanding of the virus. While COVID-19 cases and deaths have been decreasing in five of the six WHO regions (except for the European region) over a prolonged period, it remains high overall, and several countries are experiencing an increase in cases, hospitalisations and deaths.
This is due to multiple factors, including the high prevalence of variants with increased transmissibility, easing of and/or poor adherence to public health and social measures (PHSM) coupled with increased social mixing and resumption of non-essential travel, reopening of schools and continued susceptibility of a large proportion of the population due to limited vaccine access and coverage.
Globally, the number of weekly COVID-19 cases and deaths increased slightly during the past week, with over 2.9 million cases and over 49,000 new deaths, a 4% and 5% increase, respectively. The European region continues for the fourth consecutive week to report an increase of 18% in new COVID-19 cases over the previous week.
VACCINE
As much as 49.4% of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Globally 7.04 billion dosages have been administered, and 25.49 million are now administered each day.
Only 3.6% of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose.
POST-COVID SEQUELAE
As COVID-19 nears completing its second year, patients showing post-recovery symptoms are increasingly being recognised as a growing population in need of attention. Many patients are experiencing short to long term sequelae of the disease.
Some patients have residual sequelae/symptoms which may or may not be causally linked to COVID-19. This is defined as signs and symptoms that develop during or after infection, and consistent with COVID-19, which continue for more than 12 weeks and are not explained by alternative diagnosis. They are largely grouped into four categories – i) cardiovascular, ii) gastrointetstinal, iii) nephrological and iv) neurological.
Once patients recover from COVID-19, many of the lingering signs and symptoms, such as fatigue, dyspnea and chest pain, are non-specific. Profound fatigue is the most common symptom among most people with prolonged infection.
Post-COVID DOs
• Frequent hand washing and social distancing
• Restructure routines at home
• Greater emphasis on healthy weight
• Healthy eating habits
• Moderate intensity exercise (30 min/day, five times/week)
• Avoid alcohol
• Avoid smoking and other tobacco product
• Avoid self-medication
• Arrange telemedicine contacts for doctor follow-up
• If not vaccinated earlier, get vaccinated after three months of recovery
• Important to control HT, DM and dyslipidemia. Follow guidelines of medical therapy for above cardiovascular risk factors as prescribed by cardiologist
• Practice meditation, yoga within your tolerance limits
Post-COVID DON’Ts
• Persistent symptoms (such as fatigue, cough, breathlessness, fever): limit activity to 60% of maximum heart rate (220, age in years) until two to three weeks after symptoms resolve
• Intense cardiovascular exercise among known cardiac patients and all cardiovascular training in case of athletes to be avoided for three months
• Do not stop medications or take to counter-medications without consulting your cardiologist
• Do not ignore warning signs such as high-grade fever, oxygen saturation< 93%, chest pain, dizziness, syncope or palpitations
• Avoid using non-prescription drugs
• Avoid self-medication
• Don’t panic if you get infected
• Avoid unnecessary visits to hospitals and clinics for minor illnesses
