Lack of awareness about post-Covid health complications is keeping Covid survivors away from the dedicated post-Covid care centres in Jharkhand, health officials said on Wednesday, claiming that not even 0.5 per cent of the over 3.41 lakh people who have survived the lethal disease have visited the Government-run post-Covid care centres after recovery.
“Around 900 Covid survivors have visited the government-run post-Covid care centres in the state with complications such as shortness of breath, fatigue or body ache. The number is quite low if we put into consideration the total number of Covid survivors in the state,” said the nodal officer for post-Covid care management, Dr. Ranjit Mandal.
The health department was running awareness campaigns about post-Covid health disorders and encouraging people to seek medical advice in case of any complication following recovery from Covid-19 in order to overcome the lack of awareness among locals, officials said.
At a time when some Covid survivors were suffering from lethal complications like lung fibrosis and renal failure, none of the State-run post-Covid care centres have reported casualties since July 10. A source involved in post-Covid management admitted that people with severe post-Covid symptoms may not have undergone treatment at any of the post-Covid care centres in the state.
“They (Covid survivors) may have directly gone to specialized doctors,” the source said. As per Government records, as many as 3,46,778 people have been infected by Novel Coronavirus in Jharkhand and 3,41,336 of them have recovered. If officials working with the post-Covid management system in the state are to be believed, then hardly 0.26 per cent of the Covid survivors have visited post-Covid care centres in the state so far.
Government has set up post-Covid care centres in Sadar Hospitals of all the 24 districts in the State. Besides, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Tata Main Hospital (TMH) and many private hospitals also run dedicated post-Covid care centres.
“Post-Covid management at our centres often involves physiotherapy, which includes breathing exercises,” said Dr. Mandal, adding that severe complications were hardly reported at these centres.
Most Covid survivors who seek medical help suffer from shortness of breath, muscle cramps and fatigue. Cases of arrhythmia, lung fibrosis and severe cardiac problems have also been reported in some Covid survivors in the state, say doctors. However, Jharkhand has not reported any case of post-Covid bone death or avascular necrosis, which causes death of bone tissues due to lack of blood supply, officials said.
