'Medical care, patient's willpower helped septuagenarian recover from COVID-19'

By Kunal Dutt

New Delhi, Apr 8 () A 73-year-old Delhi man with co-morbid conditions has recovered from COVID-19 and doctors have attributed his survival to medical care and the patient's "willpower to live".

Manmohan Singh, a resident of Jangpura area in south Delhi, was discharged on Tuesday after undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at the LNJP Hospital here.

"He has so many co-morbid conditions resulted to old age, from ailments in heart, kidney to blood pressure and coronary heart conditions. It was his will power to live that pulled him through," Medical Superintendent of the hospital, J C Passey told on Wednesday.

He attributed his recovery to patient care given by doctors at the hospital, high-quality equipment, and the patient's fighting spirit.

"For a man in his 70s, he is already in a high-risk group as far as coronavirus infection is concerned. He was tested positive for COVID-19 at a private laboratory outside and then brought to our hospital," Passey said.

If the man had given up, perhaps "we would have lost him," he added.

"But it was his eager desire to live that complimented the patient care offered to him and allowed him to recover. We also told the family to not lose hope," the doctor said.

His survival will give a lot of hope to other old patients and their families, many of whom are suffering from fear psychosis, he said.

Passey said the man's daughter used to bring necessary items like mobile phone and took good care of him till whatever point she was allowed in the hospital premises.

The recent recovery of an elderly couple, aged 93 and 88, in Kerala COVID-19 in the face of high mortality rate in the older population globally due to the infection had brought a ray of hope to other patients, with some experts describing it as "rarest of the rare" case.

Thomas and his wife Mariyamma, hailing from Ranni locality in Pathanamthitta municipality in Central Travancore region, tested positive and remained critical for days, before recovering completely from the infection.

The total number of COVID-19 cases in Delhi stood at 576 till Tuesday night with nine deaths.

Elderly people are at a higher risk of COVID-19 infection due to their decreased immunity and body reserves, as well as multiple associated comorbidities like diabetes, hypertension, chronic kidney disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the Union Health Ministry recently said in an advisory. KND KJ