State’s first Post Covid-19 Care and Counselling Centre has come up at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) in Ranchi to address the residual symptoms in people who have overcome the viral infection but were still dealing with aftereffects of the lethal virus, doctors from RIMS said on Tuesday.
The coordinator of the Covid-19 Task Force at RIMS, Dr. Prabhat Kumar said that the new facility will be a daycare centre. Expert cardiologists, physiotherapists, kidney experts, neurological experts and psychotherapists will provide consultation to Covid survivors with residual symptoms here depending on the nature and severity of their symptoms, added Kumar.
“Residual symptoms are common in many Covid-19 patients, especially the ones who had a severe infection. Patients with comorbid conditions also showed residual symptoms after recovering. At this new facility, such Covid survivors will be provided consultation to tackle the symptoms,” said Kumar, adding that experts at the facility will also teach breathing exercises to Covid-19 survivors for strengthening their lungs.
Doctors say that several Covid-19 survivors suffer from residual symptoms like shortness of breath, sore muscles, depression, anxiety, disturbed sleep cycle, poor digestion and even infections in the respiratory tract. Cases have been reported wherein patients developed fibrosis in lungs after testing negative for Covid-19, doctors said, claiming that post Covid care was as important as treatment during an infection.
The facility at RIMS will be open for patients from 10am to 11.30 am and from 3pm to 4.30 pm, doctors said. Patients who complain of serious residual symptoms of the infection will be referred to the concerned department after consultation at the facility.
In October, Health Secretary Nitin Madan Kulkarni had announced that post Covid care centres will come up at six government-run hospitals across Jharkhand.
For the purpose, the government shortlisted RIMS in Ranchi, Tata Main Hospital in Jamshedpur, Bokaro General Hospital in Bokaro, Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College and Hospital (SNMMCH) and Central Hospital in Dhanbad, and Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital (SBMCH) in Hazaribag.
As per figures with the state health department, as many as 1,07,710 of the 1,10,457 Covid patients in Jharkhand have recovered from the infection. However, cases of deaths after testing negative for the infection have also been reported in the state. State Minority Welfare Minister Haji Hussain Ansari died of a cardiac arrest hardly 24 hours after testing negative for Covid-19 in October.