Express News Service
BENGALURU: Of the 592 Covid patients who died on Friday, 440 had symptoms of “breathlessness”. Experts said that this has been one of the major symptoms in the second wave. “We have been witnessing more cases of breathlessness, while in the previous wave, symptoms like dry cough, joint pain and headaches were more,” said Dr Manjunath C N, Director, Jayadeva Institute of Cardiac Sciences, and a member of the Technical Advisory Committee for Covid.
Medical experts working with the State Government said that most patients reporting breathlessness are ending up in ICUs or dying at their residences. “The deterioration can be sudden especially if there’s ‘happy hypoxia’, which is considered a silent symptom. A patient has an extremely low oxygen level, but doesn’t show any obvious external signs such as breathlessness,” said Dr S Sacchidanand, Vice-Chancellor, RGUHS.