Jahangeer Ganaie
Srinagar, Jan 25 : Amid the ongoing third wave of Covid-19, most people either symptomatic or asymptomatic in Jammu and Kashmir aren’t going for testing, thereby, risking the lives of other people, doctors said on Tuesday.
They warned against complacency and urged people to get themselves tested if they observe Coronavirus symptoms while asserting that COVID-19 tests in J-K have increased in the last 15 days but there are still thousands of people who have mild symptoms but aren’t going for tests.
Talking with the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) Dr Owais Ahmad from Government Medical College (GMC) Anantnag warned against complacency and said that “more and more people should get themselves tested if they observe coronavirus symptoms”.
“Due to overconfidence, some people think they will recover even after they have symptoms. They do not realise that if they do not get tested in time, they’ll end up infecting many people around them eventually,” he said. “People can avail of testing for free in any government hospital or government dispensaries.”
“There was a lot of panic and even for minor symptoms, people were coming to hospitals. But now, they know that if they have minor symptoms, they think they will recover. There is some taboo attached to it. They think that authorities will put up a sticker outside their home and their neighbors will come to know,” said another doctor.
He said that if a person comes positive now, he is just asked to go for home isolation so that he won’t spread the infection to others which helps in stopping the chain of the virus.
Doctors further added that testing of those who have no symptoms, who show symptoms of infection such as trouble breathing, fever, sore throat or loss of the sense of smell and taste, and who may have been exposed to the virus will help prevent the spread of COVID-19 by identifying people who are in need of care in a timely fashion.
They said that “a positive test early in the course of the illness enables individuals to isolate themselves, reducing the chances that they will infect others and allowing them to seek treatment earlier, likely reducing disease severity and the risk of long-term disability, or death”—(KNO)
