As India battles the fresh surge in coronavirus cases, the only silver lining in the dark cloud is the high COVID-19 recovery rate. According to the Narendra Modi government, India’s recovery rate stands at 93.66 per cent – much better than other nations. The Union ministry of health and family welfare in a recent statement said that the total number of recovered cases is over 87 lakh. But not every COVID-19 positive person recovers fully after treatment and therefore requires some kind of professional counselling or support.
According to Dr. Altamash Shaikh – consultant endocrinologist, diabetologist, and metabolic superspecialist, COVID-19 survivors may need some extra care and monitoring for optimal health.
“Post COVID-19 recovery may be different from person to person even with the same degree of severity. Some may need home oxygen for 3-6 weeks and can be weaned off starting from the day then night time. The best would be to report to your doctor with self-monitoring of health parameters, like temperature, pulse, blood pressure, blood glucose, depending on comorbidity you may have. The need for a good nutritious diet with daily tolerable exercise topped up with sound sleep cannot be overemphasised. Some with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may need professional counselling for fear/anxiety,” the doctor said.
As COVID-19 survivors require post-recovery care, they need to stay in constant touch with their primary health care physician and should have a nutritious eating routine along with a proper fitness regime. This is when they require a helping hand.
Different health care providers have come forward to support these survivors at a time when they needed it the most. MHEPL, which runs Manipal Hospitals, is doing its bit through a post-COVID – COWIN exclusive program.
To provide holistic and adequate care to COVID patients who are at high-risk post-COVID-19, MHEPL has designed a post-COVID – COWIN exclusive program. The program, having a multi-disciplinary approach, provides options for follow-up consultations for two to four weeks post-discharge depending on the severity of symptoms.
This follow-up consultation is a value add and is done through a remote monitoring system, said Deepak Venugopalan – Regional COO, Bangalore and Tamil Nadu cluster, MHEPL.
“The team comprises specialists of various therapeutic areas like pulmonologists, fever clinic physicians, infectious disease specialists, dieticians, physiotherapists including cardiologists and neurologists (based on the need of the patient). It is a follow up (a value add video consultation) service provided to COVID -19 patients that allows them to maintain their health through engagement. The primary aim of the Manipal COWIN program is to monitor the health of the patient and deliver medical intervention as soon as possible. As the name COWIN suggests we would want all our post covid warriors to win over the disease both at a physical and mental level,” Venugopalan said.
Among the many other organisations, Ghaziabad-based health and fitness platform FitApes has announced the launch of a free immunity booster plan and consultation for COVID-19 survivors. Under this, all such survivors will be guided by FitApes’ fully trained and certified nutritionists and experts, said DP Vishwakarma, CEO, FitApes.
“This free immunity booster program is for everyone who has survived coronavirus. The plan includes a light workout, a planned diet, and a few memory exercises,” Vishwakarma said.
Similarly, Zyropathy – founded by retired Indian Navy officer Kamayani Naresh- is helping its best and standing with the COVID-19 survivors by providing them free consultation and medicines at a subsidised cost.
