India’s foremost cardiologist and chairman of super speciality hospital Medanta, Dr Naresh Trehan tells Satish Padmanabhan the rules we must follow as the country prepares to slowly ease the lockdown in many parts.
Now we will be entering a new phase when the lockdown is slowly lifted. What are the precautions to take at this stage?
The cardinal rules are, no matter what you are going to do, no matter where you are going to be, your level conscious awareness must become part of your life. That means you are aware about the distance, you are aware about the mask, about you wearing a mask and somebody else wearing a mask, if somebody else is not wearing a mask then stay away from them. Do sanitisation. At home protect those above 60 and below 10, be extra careful about them. Do not do unnecessary tasks till maybe another two or three months, till the rage is on and there is no treatment. The silver bullet is still not here.
What about going to work, many offices will open up now.
By all means, the able-bodied must participate in their full activity as we go forward. It is up to the organisations to make sure minimum safety standards are maximised. Safety features for all employees must be in place when they come back, it is in the interest of your business, it is in the interest of your employees and above all it is in the interest of the country because if panic spreads from workplaces, there will be a big problem. Don’t let economics be the only factor, safety has to be a companion of economics. Short cuts at this stage can be very expensive.
How can we build immunity?
Muscles give you immunity. So, exercise, whatever facility you have. If you don’t have any facility, you can do yoga in one room. The suryanamaskar is the most fantastic thing, it exercises every muscle in your body, including your intestines and liver. You can gradually increase the number you can do. There is also huge stress in people due to various reasons. The best way to cope with it is to do the pranayama exercises of yoga.
I want to make one more point. A lot of people got taken in by Trump on this hydroxychloroquine and started swallowing it. It has no role to play unless you are sick and the doctor prescribes it. Please don’t take it yourself as many people have been hurt by it due to some rhythm problem, some ECG problem that can prove fatal. Do not use it as a prevention, it has no value.
