Coronavirus or COVID-19 has put pressure on medical staff like never before. In addition to the enormous demands of managing the pandemic and ensuring maximum recoveries, there has also been an unexpected fall-out of non-COVID treatments. These patients are reluctant to visit hospitals and health centres for health checks, consultations and treatments over fear of contracting infections. This can impact treatment outcomes of other diseases. This can place further stress on the already overburdened healthcare system in the country, as ailments such as obesity, diabetes, cardiac issues, hypertension need constant monitoring. As an industry, it is vital that we communicate two crucial facts. The first being that healthcare services are safe and the second being that the cost of delaying the detection and treatment of lifestyle diseases will be heavier.

People are afraid to seek attention even for signs like chest pain, breathing difficulty etc with a fear of contracting COVID disease. Several people have had serious health issues like heart attacks due to ignoring their symptoms. We also know now that COVID increases the risk of coronary thrombosis and pulmonary thrombosis, and hence it becomes all the more necessary to seek attention if you have chest pain in association with COVID illness. Many stories have started coming to light now where patient had discomfort during lockdown period which was ignored and somehow became okay after few days, but later started developing serious symptoms like heart failure. On evaluation it was found that they had suffered a heart attack and since they didn’t report to hospital, no treatment was given. Now the consequences of that ignorance can be seen where the muscle has become totally damaged resulting in heart failure, and nothing can be done to reverse that. Same goes for diseases like stroke which cause serious lifelong disability, if not death.

So, we can say that people with cardiovascular diseases have borne the brunt of COVID disease in the form that some did not survive and others have got lifelong disability and impaired survival as a result of heart attacks/strokes, which were ignored out of fear. Since the epidemic is nowhere near end at present and likely to stay, it is imperative that people seek medical attention for risk factors like diabetes, blood pressure and any unexplained symptoms, especially chest discomfort, breathlessness, suffocation, weakness resembling stroke etc. Timely action will go a long way in saving lives and preventing lifelong disability.

Senior clinicians present at the session shared that:

Dr Parnesh Arora, Additional Director, Interventional Cardiology, Fortis Hospital, Noida, said, “COVID disease is going to become an endemic. It’s in our interest not to ignore serious symptoms & emergencies. Routine threats like Blood pressure & Diabetes also need to be addressed”.

Dr Vineet Bhatia, Senior Consultant, interventional Cardiology, Fortis Hospital, Noida, said, “At Fortis Noida, we are taking all precautions to ensure safety of our patients & health care workers. There are separate buildings for COVID & Non COVID patients & protocols & processes have been set to ensure there is no mixing of patients. PPE kits along with all universal precautions, as safety of all is of paramount importance”.

Dr Vaibhav Mishra, Director and HOD, Adult CTVS, Fortis Hospital, Noida, said, “Postponing or delaying surgery can adversely affect the heart function, and other organ system too and may prove life threatening. A simple surgery can become risky if done in emergency or with compromised bodily functions. At FHN we have performed over 70 heart Surgeries since March with excellent results and Zero Covid infections”.