COVID-19: Senior citizens are advised to stay home and maintain hygiene (Representational)
Amid the growing number of novel coronavirus cases in the country, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment along with Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday issued an advisory for the well being of 16 crore senior citizens across India and help them deal with COVID-19.
The highly infectious COVID-19 has infected 9,352 people in the country, according to the latest data from the Union Health Ministry.
The World Health Organization also said that the novel coronavirus is 10 times more deadly than swine flu, also called H1N1, which caused a global pandemic in 2009, the World Health Organization said on Monday, calling for control measures to be lifted "slowly".
Senior citizens who are aged above 60 years and especially those with medical conditions, such as chronic respiratory disease, heart, liver and kidney disease, neurologic conditions, diabetes, hypertension and cancer, are particularly susceptible to infections during these times.
The Health Ministry along with Department of Geriatric Medicine, AIIMS, Delhi has prepared a list of Do's and Dont's for the senior citizens.
Senior citizens are clearly advised to refrain from the following:
- Come in close contact with those displaying symptoms of coronavirus disease
- Cough or sneeze into bare hands
- Touch eyes, face and nose
- Shake hand or hug friends
- Visit crowded places such as parks, markets
- Self-medicate
- Visit hospital for routine check-up
The guidelines to be practiced and observed by senior citizens to fight the disease include staying at home, avoid visitors and gatherings, maintain hygiene, wash hands before and after meals, sneeze and cough into tissue paper and handkerchief, and keep monitoring one's health.
The virus which originated in central China's Wuhan last year has so far infected more than 1.5 million across the globe.