The fear of a relapse and lack of awareness about post-Covid health complications are keeping those who have recovered away from the dedicated post-Covid care centres across Jharkhand, health officials said on Wednesday, claiming that not even 1 per cent of the over 3.41 lakh people who have survived the lethal ailment have visited the government-run centres in the state.

“Only about 900 Covid survivors have visited the government-run post-Covid care centres across Jharkhand so far. The number is quite low if we take into consideration the total number of Covid survivors in the state,” said Dr. Ranjit Mandal, the nodal officer for post-Covid care management in Jharkhand.

Lack of awareness about post-Covid complications was one of the reasons for the fewer visits at the post-Covid care centres, admitted Mandal, adding that the health department was running awareness campaigns about post-Covid health disorders and encouraging people to seek medical advice in case of complications following recovery from Covid-19.

The state has not reported any post-Covid fatalitiesy following the directive of the health department on July 10 to maintain daily records of people suffering from post-Covid ailments, said Mandal. A source involved in post-Covid management admitted that people with severe post-Covid symptoms may not have undergone treatment at any of the post-Covid care centres in the state.

“They (Covid survivors) may have directly gone to specialist doctors,” the source said.

As per government records, as many as 3,46,778 people have been infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Jharkhand and 3,41,336 of them have recovered. If officials working with the post-Covid management system in the state are to be believed, then hardly 0.26 per cent of the Covid survivors have visited post-Covid care centres in the state so far.

“Since Covid-19 primarily affects the respiratory system, post-Covid management of a patient often involves physiotherapy, which includes breathing exercises,” said Dr. Mandal

The Jharkhand government has set up post-Covid care centres in Sadar Hospitals of all the 24 districts in the state. Besides, Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Tata Main Hospital (TMH) and many private hospitals also run dedicated post-Covid care centres.

Most Covid survivors who seek medical help suffer from shortness of breath, muscle cramps and fatigue. Cases of arrhythmia, lung fibrosis and severe cardiac problems have also been reported in some Covid survivors in the state, say doctors. However, Jharkhand has not reported any case of post-Covid bone death or avascular necrosis, which causes death of bone tissues due to lack of blood supply, officials said.