The Sultanate continues to see drop in Covid-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths due to lockdown and other restrictions, but people should take vaccines and treat coronavirus infections on time to avoid complications or extended medications, according to a senior doctor.
Dr Zaid bin Al Khattab al Hinai, Assistant Professor at the College of Medicine, and an infectious diseases consultant at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, said severe infections result in multiple organ failure, clots in the lung, brain or heart.
“A Covid-19 patient who is admitted in the intensive care unit is usually due to severe lungs failure, despite being given oxygen and medication. At this point, the patient’s life should be supported by a ventilator to keep him alive,” said Dr Al Hinai.
In a series of tweets, he said that Covid-19 is often the direct cause of pulmonary failure. The intensive care team strives to support basic functions, reduce inflammation, and treat any other infection, if present.
Dr Al Hinai confirmed that a patient continues in this critical condition and consequent complications for a long time. The average stay is usually two weeks.
“Many of these potential complications are directly related to the coronavirus. But some of them are related to bacterial infections. Despite protocols to counter these emergencies, they do not always work in hospitals because at times the system is overwhelmed or swamped by cases. “No hospital in the world has succeeded in eliminating all complications completely. But it should always strive to improve performance”.
The pandemic graph continued its downward trend on Tuesday with 491 new cases and 17 deaths over the past 24 hours. The total number of cases registered in the Sultanate has now reached 295,017, including 3,788 deaths.
Fifty patients were admitted in hospitals across the country in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of in-patients to 666 including 281 in intensive care units. The total number of recoveries stood at 277,010 and the recovery rate was up at 93.9 per cent.
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