Jehangir Rashid
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, Apr 4: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said most people who catch the novel Corona Virus recover completely. “More than 90 percent patients who are diagnosed with the viral infection return to a normal state of health,” said DAK President Dr. Nisar ul Hassan.
Based on the data from China which has passed the peak of its suffering from the pandemic, Dr Nisar said of the 81,639 confirmed cases of novel virus, 76,755 (94 percent) patients have completely recovered from the illness.
“The milder cases which comprised of 81 percent of total cases recover on their own and they just need nothing more than a Paracetamol for fever.” he said. “Just under 14 percent of cases were severe and most of them got well,” he added.
Dr Nisar said approximately five percent of patients were critically ill and vast majority of them required mechanical ventilation for respiratory failure. “While the overall fatality rate was 2.3 percent, it was 49 percent in those with critical disease. Deaths were most common among people who were older than 80 years of age,” he said. Dr Nisar said most COVID-19 patients who end up on ventilation go on to die. “A study from Wuhan China found only 3 of 22 ventilated patients survived,” he said. “Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), which is an advanced type of mechanical life support improves the chances of survival in critically ill patients,” Dr Nisar said adding “WHO recommends ECMO to those patients who are refractory to conventional ventilation.”
“Kashmir valley has so far reported 71 lab confirmed cases, and most of them are doing well and some have completely recovered,” he said. “Those who have mild symptoms typically recover from the illness in about 10 days to two weeks’ time, while those who experience more severe illness can take an average of 24 days to recover,” said Dr Nisar.
Meanwhile, the separate faction of Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) headed by Dr. Suhail Naik issued an advisory urging people to use handmade protective covers for face and mouth to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The DAK stressed on the need to strictly follow the recommend public health measures including social distancing to ward-off infection and suggested that in addition people should use homemade face covers. Dr Suhail said that evolving research suggests that up to 25 percent of infected may never have symptoms.
“And in others, their symptoms may not show up until 48 hours after being infected, according to new evidence. Yet researchers have said people in both groups may be “silent spreaders” of the virus,” he said.
“People think that if they don’t feel bad, they don’t have it and can’t give it to anyone. That is now misguided thinking. Wearing mask in public place is like “you save me and I will save you” and this is definitely going to curtail the Covid-19 pandemic,” Dr Naik said.
He advised people not to run after surgical triple layer or N-95 masks saying that these should be spared for frontline healthcare workers. The DAK advised its frontline health workers working in different designated corners to wear specific personal protective kits as directed by the Government of India. |
