Some Covid19 deaths at home or on way to hospital

SOME covid19 patients have died at home; en route to hospital; or as soon as they arrived, said Dr Anthony Parkinson, technical director of hospital services. He is urging the public not to wait until it's too late to contact health officials.

Parkinson was speaking at the Health Ministry’s covid19 media briefing on Saturday morning.

He said one of the most "common pathways" for fatality owing to covid19 is acute respiratory distress syndrome.

"The lungs become so inflamed they produce fluids, and this prevents the oxygen from passing through alveoli (air sacs) to the bloodstream. It's as though you are suffocating."

He said from the moment one realises he or she is experiencing shortness of breath, the health officials should be contacted.

He said for some people, it has been as bad as having shortness of breath while walking a short distance to their bathroom at home or even just sitting on the couch. If it reaches this point, he said, "You should have already been in a hospital."

He also said hypertension and diabetes, among other underlying medical conditions, have proven fatal combinations for covid19 patients.

The term comorbidity refers to the presence of two or more underlying medical conditions in a patient.

In the ministry’s daily updates, it’s often seen when deaths are reported that the majority have had comorbidities.

While it is not as common a cause as in the US, Dr Parkinson said, obesity has been one of the conditions included in the groupings.

He said in the intensive care unit (ICU), “Common comorbidities of people who succumb to the virus are ...hypertension, diabetes, chronic kidney disease – some are on dialysis. They can live with it (kidney disease) but when they get covid19 it’s as though they are being pushed over the edge.

“About 18 per cent have had cardiac diseases, ten per cent have had a history of ongoing cancer. Obesity – having a BMI (body-mass index) of 30 and up, increases chances of dying with comorbidities if you end up in ICU. Alcoholics and smokers as well.”

He said while the average age for those who have died from the virus is 65, young people must understand they are not immune to it. He recalled a 34-year-old male with no comorbidities who had died.

But he also assured the elderly the virus is also not a death sentence.

“People are coming out alive. On Friday, I was chatting with a 70-year-old male who had CABG (coronary artery bypass graft) which is bypass heart surgery. But he also had diabetes and hypertension. He also had to go to ICU twice. We thought he was getting better but he had to return. But he survived. And now he’s on the ward on the lowest amount of oxygen.”

He urged everyone to take the virus seriously by taking all the necessary precautions. He also warned not to “play Russian roulette with the virus.

“We see a fair amount of mortality, but we do see people surviving against the odds. Do not become a statistic.”