Lockdown: People learn to stay safe & healthy

Hyderabad: Due to the new lifestyle for the last one month or so due to the lockdown, there has been healthy impact on the lives of people stuck in their homes.

Save for uneasiness due to prolonged lack of work and sedentary lifestyle, people are savouring unexpected fall-out of lockdown in the form of absence of regular as well as seasonal health issues like dehydration and sun stroke (in summer), skin and respiratory issues, acidity, indigestion and stomach pain, vomiting and motions, injuries or accidents.

The fact that most of public as well as private clinics have shut down is having no bearing on the people, in the sense that there is no panic over lack of medical consultations or tests as before. They do not much miss out on on calling their doctors periodically as in pre-lockdown days.

In normal scenario, one can recall, people would be beset with all kinds of health worries and there would be regular flow of patients knocking on the doors of doctors for consultation and prescription to get well soon and resume their everyday duties.

The ones visiting hospitals now are mostly pregnant women and people suffering from chronic ailments relating to kidneys, heart, cancer, diabetes etc. as well as health emergencies.

According to Dr G Raju, Medical Officer, Community Health Centre, Malkajgiri, they used to deal with a huge rush of patients to government hospitals whenever other hospitals and clinics are closed, but now the OP registrations now is merely 150 as against 600 on normal days.

He said that by staying at home or avoiding outside food or by not going to daawat (party) functions or not making journeys and outside travel, a majority population has got rid of most common health problems during this lockdown.

Earlier they used to rush to an hospital for even small issues, but now it seems they are banking on known home remedies rather than rush to a doctor which is the case normally.

J Satish Rao, the general secretary of Telangana Chemists and Druggists Association, observed that business at retail shops across the state has shrunk by nearly 30 per cent as there are no takers for seasonal and regular medicines and drugs.

Closure of clinics in localities and hospitals is impact their business adversely. Most pharmacies are running only till 1 pm and all are downing shutters by 4 pm.