Tunisian doctors warn: fear of infection with corona kills also

Amal al-Hilali - Tunisia

Despite his feeling dizzy and lethargic, Abd al-Rahman bin Omar preferred not to go to the hospital or private clinics in the capital Tunis because of the spread of the Corona pandemic, and he suffers from diabetes that accompanies him throughout his life.

Although the man was keen to take his medication regularly, his visit to an outpatient clinic before the outbreak of the epidemic in the country - which was carried out permanently to conduct periodic checks - differed completely today due to the fear of infection.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Abdul Rahman does not hide his feeling of constant anxiety whenever his compulsion went out of his home to buy family necessities, in light of doctors ’warnings that diabetics, and the rest of chronic diseases, are the group most likely to die in Corona because of their weak immunity.

This comes at a time when Tunisian doctors warned of the high number of deaths from diseases other than corona, after the owners chose not to go to hospitals for fear of infection, or because the departments and outpatient clinics stopped working.

Speaking to Al-Jazeera Net, the head of the surgical department at the Charles Nicole Hospital in the capital, Professor Ramzi Nouira, confirmed that the results of tests and anatomy of some of the bodies of recently deceased patients showed that they were free of the Corona virus, in return for exposure to blood clots, a stomach hole or a colon explosion.

Sudden death and
stressed that cases of sudden death of diseases that are easy to heal and surgically interfere in, confirms beyond any doubt that most patients chose to stay in their homes for a long time, and then go to hospitals after their health and complexity reached advanced stages.

He pointed out that the concerns of patients and their families about infection with the Corona virus during their transportation from their homes to hospitals, make them prefer to remain silent over their diseases and their pains until the matter is reached and the death occurs.

He pointed out that during the daily maintenance sessions in the surgical departments, a noticeable decrease was recorded in the number of patients who are usually undergoing routine surgeries on the heart, intestines or stomach, compared to before the spread of the Corona pandemic in the country.

The head of the surgical department of Charles Nicole Hospital noted that this disturbing phenomenon is not restricted to Tunisia, but also to all other countries where the Coronavirus is spread, as discussions by the professor with his counterparts in France have shown a convergence through the high number of deaths of people with diseases that facilitate their treatment in hospitals.

One of the solutions proposed by the Tunisian doctor during a working session that I met with officials of the Ministry of Health is to allocate hospitals in the capital for urgent urgent cases, in parallel with other hospital units devoted to "Coffed-19" patients, in order to reassure patients and their relatives and get them to go to hospitals.

Fear of contagion
In a related context, the former parliamentarian and cardiologist Sahbi Bin Faraj warned in a lengthy blog post on his official Facebook page of other disasters caused by the Corona pandemic, especially the high rate of "suspicious" deaths among retirees.

Bin Faraj pointed out that the last automatic update (update) took place a few days ago within the governmental social and health care system, which dealt with the period between 6 and 21 of this month showed an increase in the number of deaths to 627 cases, and the normal rate of deaths does not exceed in the most cases One hundred cases before corona.

The cardiologist ruled out that the deaths were due to corona infection, given that the high death rate with this virus is always accompanied by a rise in the number of patients being accommodated in resuscitation departments and artificial respiration rooms, which was not the case in Tunisia. 

He pointed out that among the confirmed hypotheses that the causes of deaths are due to the deterioration of the health of ordinary patients without coronaries due to the difficulty of movement and the review of doctors and the suspension of work in outpatient clinics and medical departments for long weeks due to the recruitment of the health system almost exclusively to corona resistance. 

The Tunisian Ministry of Health interacted with the doctors ’warnings, by inviting it through a ministerial circular on Saturday, all public and private health structures and institutions to resume their activities, and to continue providing health services to patients without HIV, especially the elderly, those with chronic diseases and pregnant women.

The publication, signed by the Minister of Health, urged the need to develop new mechanisms to communicate with patients and provide them with medicines, as well as to use a regional green line to communicate with citizens regarding their questions regarding their health status.

The Ministry of Health has confirmed during the past two days by the Director-General of the National Observatory of New and Emerging Diseases Nassaf Ben Ali that the general health situation in the country is under control after the pre-emptive measures taken by the state to prevent the Corona virus.

The latest outcome of the number of cases of coronavirus was 922 confirmed cases, and the number of deaths reached 38, while the number of similar cases of recovery recorded a remarkable increase of 194 cases.