Delhi Opens Post-COVID Clinic For Recovered Patients, Here’s How It Will Help

New Delhi: In a first in the national capital, the Delhi government-run Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital kick-started an initiative for COVID recovered patients, wherein a post-COVID clinic has been set-up to look after the recovered patients who are facing issues like breathlessness, body aches or fatigue. Sharing details about the initiative, Dr Ajeet Jain, Nodal officer for COVID-19 at Rajiv Gandhi Super Specialty Hospital said,

Nearly 1,500 patients from the hospital have been discharged after recovering from COVID. But when we did follow-up calls to enquire about their well-being we saw that recovered patients are having problems even after the recovery. Moreover, over the past few months, as we get to know more about COVID-19, we have learned that coronavirus is not like a normal infection, sadly, it has long-term effects on human body. Keeping all these factors in mind, we decided to come up with a Post-COVID clinic for recovered patients.

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What Post-COVID Clinic Looks Like

The Post-COVID clinic has separate sections for separate needs – from counselling room to yoga and medication room to, physiotherapy, consultation and sample collection, the set-up has it all.

Explaining the set-up at the clinic for recovered patients, Dr Ajeet Jain adds,

When we called back our 1,500 discharged COVID patients to enquire about their health, we found out that younger patients were mostly facing psychological issues and that’s why we decided to come up with counselling, meditation and yoga rooms. Secondly, elderly patients above the age of 60 complained of respiratory issues and sensory issues like loss of taste and smell. We are also seeing symptoms of Lung Fibrosis (a disease that has symptoms like breathlessness and dry cough) in several patients who have recovered from coronavirus. So, we decided to have one consultation room, which has all the three doctors at all the time – one is the pulmonologist, second is cardiologist and third is the Psychiatrist.

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The Physiotherapists will help the patients in breathing exercises, Cardiologists, Pulmonologists and Psychiatrists will be present in the consultation room so that both the physical as well as mental needs of patients are taken care of. Apart from this, there is also a sample collection room for carrying out blood tests or ECGs that may be required for further investigation.

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Talking about the role of such clinics in the battle against coronavirus in India, Dr BL Sherwal, Medical Director at the hospital, said,

Since coronavirus is a very new disease and virus even till today, it is hard to say on a numerical basis about how many patients are suffering from post-COVID issues. But our medical teams do thorough follow-ups with all our recovered patients and we have come across several patients who complained of having post COVID symptoms. A full recovery is essential for all patients and clinics like these will play a big role in ensuring that.

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What COVID Patients Think Of This Initiative?

NDTV speaks to a 18-year-old resident of Nehru Place who is currently under home isolation and was tested positive from COVID few days ago, he adds,

I think post COVID clinic will be a good option for people who have recovered from coronavirus. I am currently COVID positive and under home isolation but I can feel the changes in my body, I have breathlessness, body aches and sometimes don’t feel like getting up as well. My next test is on August 26 and if I come negative, it will be a good option to have a post COVID treatment clinic to go to.

Also Read: COVID Fighters: “We Have To Free India From Coronavirus,” Say Doctors Fighting The Pandemic

A recovered COVID patient from Hemkunt Colony, Greater Kailash adds,

I was tested negative at the end of July, but I still have body ache and breathlessness..When I consulted the doctors, they told me that the issues will remain for some time, but as such I don’t have a go to doctor or a clinic for these queries and it worries me a lot. Just like we have facilities for COVID treatment, till now, we didn’t have any facility for recovered patients, the info which I gathered was through a family doctor. In that perspective, I think, post COVID clinic will be really helpful. I along with my family of four people, WE WERE tested positive with the virus, currently all my family members have recovered from the virus but I along with my parents who are above the age of 55 are facing post COVID symptoms.

Delhi’s Coronavirus Fight

The national capital currently has moved down to sixth position now from being a second worst-hit coronavirus state in June. The capital also added 1,061 new cases and 13 new deaths according to the government’s Monday bulletin, taking the total number of infections in the city to 162,527 and fatalities to 4,313, according to Delhi government’s health bulletin.

Of the 1,62,527 coronavirus cases, 1,46,588 patients have been recovered from the virus and there are more than 11,000 active cases in the city. 4,330 people have lost their lives in the national capital due to the virus.

But with Delhi unlocking – hotels and weekly markets reopening, Delhi government officials are concerned about the positivity rate showing an increase. Last week, the percentage of people testing positive for COVID out of the total tests conducted has shown a sign of increase, suggesting that Delhi may be facing a fresh challenge to control an outbreak it had contained to a considerable extent.

Dr BL Sherwal adds with people resuming work, the surge was expected, he said,

Almost everything is opening up… But if the cases cross 2,000, then it’s a cause of worry. There is a slight surge but we will not say it’s worrying as far as illnesses is mild or asymptomatic. The mortality is in control and that is a big relief for all of us. Overall people are taking precautions.

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.