Dr. A.V. Gurava Reddy, Managing Director, Sunshine Hospital, shared his views about the ongoing pandemic crisis, the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 situation in Hyderabad, Telangana.
The disease, which infected a total of 27,612 is rising with a massive spike in Telangana.
In regard to this, Dr. A.V. Gurava Reddy, during a webinar shared his view regarding the pandemic crisis, do’s, dont’s and reality of the Coronavirus.
Highlighting the COVID-19 infection through a doctor’s perspective, A.V. Gurava Reddy briefed about the virus, facilities required, lockdown vision, current situation, mortality rate, transmission and other basic facts about the virus.
How Dangerous Is COVID-19?
Dr. Reddy said, the pandemic crisis which has infected people across India is not a lethal disease, and has a mortality rate of 2 to 3 %.
However, due to the transmission through the person, the virus is dangerous and could infect a large number of people.
Dr. Reddy said, “This disease (Coronavirus) is not lethal.Compared to this one, Ebola H1N1 are much more lethal with 20 % to 30 % of the mortality rate. Coronavirus mortality is 2% to 3 % in the worst case scenario. The problem is transmissibility, it is the worst in Coronavirus.” He further added, “In Coronavirus, by speaking, sneezing and coughing. And now droplets and aerosol infection has been established.”
Dr. Gurava described the transmissibility of the Novel Coronavirus to be lethal instead of the disease.
How Lockdown Helped To Prevent Coronavirus Spread?
Speaking about the necessity of the nation wide lockdown, Dr. Reddy said, “By putting the lockdown we got five important benefits.”
- Social Benefit: Before the lockdown nation was not prepared for the term social distancing, hence the lockdown helped to create awareness about social distancing and the disease.
- Santizers, facemasks and social distancing: Another major understanding about the precaution from the Novel Coronavirus is use of face masks, social distancing of minimum 2 feet and use of sanitizers. Medical experts say, wearing a face mask reduces the chances of spread of the virus by 90%.
- Dexamethasone: steroid drugs which have been used to cure thousands of patients across India is one of the major results of the nationwide lock down. As per Dr. Reddy, 70 people out of 100 are living because of the drug Dexamethasone.
- Lesson From America and Italy: Indian Government’s decision to announce a nation wide lockdown and constructing a kind of Infrastructure to handle the Coronavirus situation was a result of the lessons learnt from the United States of America (U.S.A.,) and Italy. The lessons learnt regarding the do’s and dont’s from the U.S.A., and Italy, was said to be handy for India, saving a lot of lives.
- Awareness: out of the aforementioned benefits, awareness amongst people is the biggest advantage of the nation wide lockdown.
Is the nationwide lockdown successful?
Narendra Modi announced a nationwide lockdown on the 24th of March. The decision was taken as a precautionary measure to control the spread of the Novel Coronavirus.
Considering the equipped medical facilities of the United State and Italy, India is performing well in the prevention of the spread of COVID-19. Based on the population of India, the mortality rate is 2% and the recovery rate is close to 61.05 %.
Out of the total, 7,62,823 positive cases, 4,70,145 are recovered/discharged, whereas only 2,71,506 cases are active cases.
Due to the increased awareness and we are now prepared for the virus and able to combat this Coronavirus pandemic.
Without a lockdown, the situation would have been like New York City, the U.S.A.
Due to the lockdown, corona spread has been prevented successfully in areas like Dharavi slum in Mumbai.
The figures are said to be better than that of the United States of America, which has approximately 3.4 million positive cases.
Need of helpline numbers, counseling and home quarantine
With the increasing number of cases due to lethal transmission of the Novel Coronavirus, there is a need of 100 plus helpline numbers, counseling and brief awareness on home quarantine.
According to Dr. A.V. Gurava Reddy, there is an urgent need of helpline numbers with doctors for the patients complaining mild symptoms of the infection.
Due to a massive every day spike in the Novel Coronavirus cases, there is a lack of hospital beds, doctors and medical facilities for patients.
Therefore, it is necessary for the citizens to understand the need for home quarantine. In regard to this, it should be the responsibility of the State Government to set up 100 helpines with the good doctors team, information technology (IT) team, with a capacity of handling approximately 10,000 calls a day.
Proper helpline guidance, indication to patients would help several people across India to fight the Novel Coronavirus.
Dr. Reddy said, “We need to live with the virus and treat it accordingly, as would be there like any cold and cough with serious lethal transmission.”
Speaking about the Hyderabad lockdown, A.V. Gurava Reddy said conditions in the City would have been like New York without the lockdown.
Instructions for admission to the hospital should be checked with a pulse oximeter if it is below 90%.
How Covid-19 vaccine would be a permanent cure for Coronavirus?
Highlighting the news of covaxin for the cure of the Novel Coronavirus, Dr. Reddy said, vaccines and anti virus drugs may not protect the coronavirus speed.
Instead of those drugs and vaccines, which is white wash of the Indian Government, one should follow social vaccines, washing hands, sanitizing and wearing face masks.
Is Hyderabad Lockdown Necessary?
In Hyderabad, a lockdown is required for 2 weeks, 14 days, so the State Government could conduct counseling on treatment on a large scale.
The lockdown would help to improve the current scenario and would explain property how to be post lockdown to prevent the virus spread at personal level.
Within the 14 days lockdown, people of Hyderabad should understand the corona situation through TV and other media outlets and act accordingly, instead of panic and rush to go to hospitals.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Government should chalk down a systemic way to impose lockdown and construct an infrastructure like empty space, building capacity and other facilities to treat patients.
In regard to this, the State Government should also come up with proper live dashboards l, regarding the availability of hospital beds and ventilators.
With these aforementioned awareness, we could prevent the spread of the Novel Coronavirus disease in Telangana as well as India.
Stay tuned for further updates.
