A webinar was organized today by the Ten News team with doctors from across the country who shared their insights, suggestions and recommendations coming from their close observation of COVID-19.
Dr. Siddharth Gupta moderated the panel of Dr. Raghu Ram, Dr. Amit Agarwal, Dr. Shailendra Tomar, Dr. Vandana Baraskar and Dr. Prashant.
Dr. Raghu began the discussion with interesting observations. He said that the low fertility rate in India is due to its younger population. The mean age in India is around 28 years.
“Only 11% of COVID-19 patients are above 60 years of age in Andhra Pradesh.” Dr. Raghu said. “If same pandemic had occurred after 20-30 years than it would have been more severe because of older population in India at that time.”
He also talked about the strange difference in fertility rate between different states. States which have better medical facilities than the other states comparatively such as Maharashtra and Gujarat have high fertility rate whereas state such as Bihar which is way backward in terms of healthcare has registered a lesser fertility rate.
The moderator invited questions from the viewers at the later stage of the webinar and below are some of the important questions raised by the viewers:
Q. What kind of masks should be used?
Dr. Amit Agarwal: COVID-19 is not an airborne disease, rather it’s a aerosol borne disease. In case of airborne disease everyone would have been bound to wear N95 masks. But since aerosoul borne disease are not so deadly, N95 masks are not necessary for everyone. Normal people can use surgical mask or the masks available in the market.
Q. How to protect staff of private nursing home?
Dr. Tomar: Handwash is the best precaution for COVID-19. Research has proven that the outer layer of the hands is destroyed by the foam.
Everyone should avoid touching mouth or nose by hands.
For medical staff – wearing masks, covering hairs and wearing gown is very important.
Q. Should gloves be used all the time?
Dr. Vandana: At home there is no need to wear gloves because everytime you touch something you’ll have to wash the gloves. Gloves should be used only in a medical facility.
Q. How many times the sanitizer should be used in a day?
Dr. Amit Agarwal: There are no fixed guidelines on this. One doesn’t need to use sanitizer frequently while staying at home. It should be used when you touch a surface that you are not sure about.
Q. How immunity can be increased through Ayurveda?
Dr. Prashant: One Awla should be consumed daily, it is very helpful in increasing immunity. Proper diet routine should also be followed.
Q. Should we use PPE kits in OPD?
Dr. Amit Agarwal: PPE kits should not be used in OPD because there are not many positive cases yet and so the chances of corona positive person walking down in OPD is less.
Instead social distancing should be maintained in OPD, the temperature of the patient should be checked and it should be ensured that the patient is wearing a mask.
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