Srinagar: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Tuesday said that most people infected with the novel Coronavirus do not require hospitalisation and there is a need to reserve hospital infrastructure and manpower for those who need them. “We can’t pile up those who don’t need to be in hospitals and leave no beds for those who actually need them,” DAK President Dr Nisar said in a statement. Dr Nisar said patients who are positive for Covid-19 and have mild disease can stay in isolation at home for 2 weeks and contact their health care provider by phone for guidance about clinical management. “These patients may just need a paracetamol and they recover on their own.” “However, older patients and those with underlying medical conditions should be observed in hospitals, even if they have milder illness given the possible risk of progression to severe illness in them,” he said. “Persons who have history of travel or contact with a confirmed case after screening should be quarantined either at home or at a designated community centre. In no case should they occupy hospital beds,” he added. Dr Nisar said only those patients who have severe disease should get admitted to a hospital so that the work force at hospitals can focus on the most critical cases. He said mild cases are those who have symptoms of fever and cough, but are stable and have no pneumonia or hypoxia. “Severe cases have difficulty in breathing and are hypoxic, and critical cases have respiratory and other organ failure.”

KR Desk