Daijiworld Media Network – Bengaluru

Bengaluru, Mar 18: Amid news of spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in India, there is growing concern across the country. While people are uncertain how severe the situation will be or if the virus’ spreading will never stop, Dr Santhosh Jacob, director of Orthopedics and Sports Injury Management, Be Well Hospitals, Chennai, has stepped into social media to raise awareness about the fast spreading virus with an audio clip.

In the said audio message, which has reportedly received good response, Dr Santhosh says that not everyone suspected of coronavirus should go to get tested. “This is a message which is specific for India. In India we have a peculiar problem. Everybody who has coronavirus or is suspected of it should not go to get tested. India has 1.4 billion people and the kits we have is less than 1,50,000 at this point of time. So the coronavirus infection will be asymptomatic or will be mild only like a respiratory viral fever for 85% of the population.

“So anybody who has flu or cold, the first thing you do is isolate yourself and follow your symptoms. First you will have the contact with the virus. On day zero you will just feel a little fatigued. On day three you might have a mild fever with cough and an itchy throat. For a mild headache on and off day five, you might have some gastrointestinal symptoms like diarrhoea or cramps, along with headache and your fever might be normal or it might increase. Day six, day seven, you will feel more body pain and headaches will reduce, diarrhoea might increase or might reduce, and but you will still have stomach upset like loss of appetite like symptoms. Now here it is what is very important. Most of your symptoms will reduce on day eight and day nine that is where you have to keep watching. Your symptoms will reduce to lower fever, lower body pain, and your energy will come back. Only your cough will persist with a runny nose which means that you are somebody who is resistant to coronavirus and have already formed resistance to it and your body is improving.

“Even now you do not have to get tested for coronavirus, because your antibodies have already formed. If somebody on day eight and day nine instead of starting to feel better, get worse, call coronavirus helpline and go to get tested because India has only 150,000 test kits at this point of time and we might be able to get a maximum of 1.5 million people tested. So we cannot afford to test everybody who is having just flu of two to three days. This will become a disaster.

“So as educated and informed citizens, I would advocate all of you to wait and follow the symptomatology which I gave you and if it is worsening, then only go to get yourself tested. Please do this and I will send you a drug protocol on what you should start on when you have flu like symptoms. I will send you a full proper protocol video of what to do. Testing should not be done as soon as you are afraid we do not have enough test kits. Like now my hospital is struggling to get N95 masks. I have been telling for the last four months India please do not wear masks. Masks are scary. Health workers do not have it. So please do not waste the blood tests also. It will become a disaster for India," he says.



