Vadodara: ‘Stay home, stay safe’ is a slogan that most are well-versed with by now and even follow to avoid a novel coronavirus infection. But when it comes to Covid-19 many are preferring to stay home not only to stay safe against the virus, but also even if they have been infected by the dreaded virus.
If hospitals in the city are breathing easy, a major contributor to this is also the fact that many are choosing home stay over hospitalization. Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) data reveals that over 40 per cent of patients prefer staying home for treatment.
Sources said that a major reason for people staying at home was that they were either asymptomatic or had only mild symptoms. The reluctance to go to a government hospital and inability to foot the bills of treatment at private facilities if people did not have sufficient medical insurance were other contributors to the trend.
Officials point out that while home-based Covid-19 treatment may be preferred by many, they should be careful and consult a doctor during the period. “The monitoring of vitals and telemedicine should be taken up regularly,” said a VMC official adding that they had come across several cases in the past when Covid-19 patients went under home isolation only to land up in hospitals for intensive care.
“Our teams also monitor those under home isolation regularly and keep in touch with them. Aged persons and those with co-morbidities should ideally get treated in a hospital,” said VMC medical officer health Dr Devesh Patel.
VMC had earlier issued an advisory regarding home-based Covid care and asked doctors to follow it strictly. This was done as it had come to light that some patients who were aged or had co-morbidities were being treated at home and had to be rushed to a hospital when their condition worsened.