Hyderabad: Some people of Hyderabad are witnessing COVID phobia. The phobia has gripped elderly people so much that they are avoiding stepping out of home ever since the lockdown that was imposed last year.
According to a report published in the Times of India, private and government hospitals’ psychiatry departments are seeing new cases daily. The phobia is much higher in COVID-19 recovered patients especially those who were hospitalized for a longer period.
TOI quoted an assistant professor of Gandhi Hospital Dr. Ajay Kumar Joopaka saying that people who have struggled to get a hospital bed and ran from pillar to post for oxygen cylinders are deeply traumatized. Such level of trauma is usually seen in survivors of tsunami, earthquake,s etc., he added.
Institute of Medical Health, Erragada saw cases wherein people who were in grip of COVID phobia have not stepped out of their houses for the past 18 months.
What is COVID phobia?
Phobia is an anxiety disorder wherein person suffering from it is under the grip of excess fear of person, object, situation etc.
In the case of COVID phobia, people will be witnessing fear of contracting COVID-19. They are also worried about COVID-19 complications including black fungus, breathlessness etc.
COVID-19 cases in Telangana
The Telangana state continues to report over 1000 new cases of COVID-19. On Saturday, the state reported 1,028 fresh cases of COVID-19 and nine fatalities. The cumulative cases in the state reached 6,19,865, while the cumulative deaths rose to 3,627.
As per the bulletin issued by health department providing details till 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Greater Hyderabad accounted for the most number of cases with 132, followed by Khammam (76) and Nalgonda (66) districts.
Currently, the number of active cases in Telangana is 15,054 where, the case fatality rate in the state is 0.58 percent.
Meanwhile, the state has reached the milestone of administering one crore jabs to people.