As many as 29 senior citizens, 25 of them aged above 70, with multiple comorbidities, recovered from COVID-19 and were discharged from the Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital on Friday.
The residents of Anandam, a free home for senior citizens in Ambattur, had tested positive on September 5, and were shifted to the hospital after some of them complained of fever. Of them, 25 were women, sources in the hospital said.
“They were all aged between 60 and 95 years with comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease. Some of them even had seizure disorders and glaucoma. The intensity of COVID-19 was of the moderate category, and we followed the treatment protocol prescribed for elderly patients. Special teams were formed to ensure round-the-clock monitoring and attention to these patients as they need special attention in managing routines,” Stanley Hospital Dean Dr. P. Balaji said.
Personalised care
He said nursing attendants were attached to each of the patients to take care of feeding and other activities.
“Besides a nutritious diet plan, we also had to provide counselling to reassure the senior citizens that they were in safe hands and would go back soon. They all recovered well and got discharged today. We will continue to monitor their health conditions,” he said.
Dr. Balaji said at least 95% of the patients who got admitted in the hospital with COVID-19 had been treated and discharged. Of the 25,114 patients who recovered, 3,439 were senior citizens and 236 of them were aged above 70 years. All the doctors, nurses and other para-medical staff gave their best in the successful treatment of patients in the ongoing pandemic.
Anandam managing trustee Bhageerathy Ramamoorthy said the staff at Stanley Hospital took good care of the senior citizens, and that the quality of treatment, food and medicines was very good.
Source of infection
Ms. Ramamoorthy said the source of infection remained a mystery since the home took all safety precautions to protect the 105 residents.
“We have been giving them multivitamin tablets and other Indian medicines prescribed by doctors to boost immunity. No visitor was allowed to enter the home for the last five months. The inmates wore masks and never stepped out… We are still clueless how they contracted the virus,” she added.