UFH doctors share clinical experience with Indonesia counterparts

The following is an excerpt from the video conference:

Q: The Indonesian government has encouraged people around the country to stay at home and work from home. However, we see some people still failing to follow the recommendation. How can we effectively encourage people to stay at home and follow the recommendation regarding social distancing?

A: This is a public health problem, and it is always going to be a challenge. It's important to inform people of their own health risk if they don't take the recommendation. Enforcing this via government has been proven to be the most effective way.

Social distancing is put in place for COVID-19 because the characteristic of this virus is that it's extremely contagious, while the mortality rate of the disease is not as high as Ebola or SARS.

One job of the medical professional is currently to convince the public of the effectiveness of social distancing in curbing and slowing down the virus' spread and preventing medical services from being overwhelmed until we obtain a vaccine. Overwhelmed medical facilities is a major reason why the death rate can become massive in some countries and regions.

Q: Is there a correlation between smoking and a higher risk of getting infected with the novel coronavirus?

A: There has been not enough strong evidence to determine such a correlation clinically. But we witnessed that elderly patients and those with existing health conditions are more prone to becoming severe cases. Such individuals also have a higher mortality rate.

Q: For doctors and nurses who are working at the hospitals treating cases of COVID-19, what do you recommend they do to avoid possible infection of their families?

A: Such healthcare workers should always take precautions, such as removing their overcoats before touching anything at home or interacting with people. The virus can remain on plastic and metal surfaces and in the air for up to two days.

In order to protect one's family, reducing anxiety is also incredibly important.

Q: Is a chest x-ray necessary for all suspected COVID-19 patients?

A: All such cases should be screened with chest x-rays. Imaging cannot be confirmative but it adds evidence for diagnosis.