Rohit Shishodia

Corona has entered India’s villages and there are reports of many people in the country's rural hinterland dying of Covid like symptoms.

This has posed a huge challenge for governments to handle the situation as healthcare services in villages are just for name's sake and managing Covid has become a daunting task.

A group of junior doctors named Vivekanand Mission Trust has come forward in this situation to help patients. They are now providing free consultation through telemedicine which has benefited patients.

Many of these doctors are engaged in Covid wards in Delhi hospitals. They are also planning to provide 70 oximeters to selected villages. The oximeter will be given to a member of the village which can be utilized by all.

Some of these doctors have been infected with Covid while treating patients. They are still in touch with Covid positives in villages of UP, Rajasthan and Haryana and are giving consultation to them through WhatsApp messages and calls.

Dr Neeraj Yadav, Senior member of the trust, told DTMT: “We see serving people in villages through telemedicine as an opportunity. As doctors, it is like a war like situation for us.”

Dr Pooja is a third year resident of anesthesia at Delhi’s Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital. She is posted at the critical care unit of the hospital and is working round the clock in ICU. Despite a hectic schedule she is providing consultation to villagers.  

Dr Pooja said that most of the patients can be handled in home isolation as they have mild symtomps. "Our motive is to provide help through telemedicine," she added.

Dr Pooja pointed out that there is a great need for oximeters in villages as oxygen level has been found to be low in later stages of treatment. "They don’t exhibit it but their oxygen level starts going down. This is called happy hypoxia," she added.  

is a junior doctor at Lady Hardinge Medical College, Delhi. She was infected with Covid while treating the patients. She has stressed that there is a need to be positive during Covid. Patients who are under isolation should be shown data of patients who have recovered from the disease at home and are doing well, said Dr Singh.

“People should be educated about the importance of masks, physical distancing and hand hygiene for protection. They should also be informed about Covid symptoms,” she said.

Dr Deepka has advised that basically paracetamol for fever, ivermectin 12 mg for three days for antiviral and zinc and vitamin c tablets can be taken for immunity boosting in home isolation. Doxycycline and Azithromycin are basically administered in hospitals, she added.

“Steroids are given when patients have persistent and high grade fever and have breathing difficulty. Steroids have to be used judiciously as they can suppress the immunity which is key to fight the infection,” she explained.

All these doctors have pointed out that people in villages are concerned and panicked when they get the infection. They said people question if they will recover or not and will their fever subside or not.

“As doctors we assure them and they will get cured but they need to stay calm and take medicines for symptoms. They seek suggestions on steroids,” said doctors.

Doctors have emphasized that cough, running nose and low grade fever should be assumed as Covid till the reports come. Therefore, anyone who gets these symptoms should get isolated first. We first advise villagers that they should stay away from other family members and use any cloth to cover their face. If possible, they should get oximetor to test oxygen level.