Zahid Jadwat
The National Chairperson of the South African Medical Association has warned that there is a challenge faced when it comes to isolating people during the Covid-19 outbreak.
“It becomes very problematic if we say you need to self-quarantine, but you are living in a squatter camp and only have 1 room in which 10 others are living,” Dr. Angelique Coetzee told Zahid Jadwat on The Special Focus this week.
However, she expects that quarantine facilities would be made available to patients from congested areas such as squatter camps.
“The National Department of Health is working very hard to come up with ideas, for example, each community will have a community hall that will be converted into a quarantine centre.”
Furthermore, according to Dr. Coetzee, it is not necessary for a patient to present all the symptoms of the coronavirus in order to be diagnosed. However, this only applies to mild cases which are said to make up 80% of total cases.
The currently-known symptoms for the novel coronavirus include coughing, a sore throat, fever, and breathlessness.
“You don’t need to have all the symptoms; you only have to have a sore throat but, remember, that is only for the 80% [mild cases],” said Coetzee.
She urged patients who present symptoms to self-isolate in order not to spread the disease but reiterated that up to 80% of cases shouldn’t be a great cause for concern.
“If you have a sore throat and are positive with the coronavirus, you’re not my problem [not a serious case] except if you progress to having pneumonia within 3-4 days. You will know when you have it.”
Listen to the full discussion below:
Featured image via Google
