The mental health effects on COVID-19 patients are being taken care of according to the doctor in charge of the country’s COVID-19 hospital as a facility is expected to be set up to deal with the long-term effects of the virus.
This was disclosed to members of the media on Wednesday during a press conference which was held at Guyana’s Infectious Diseases facility. It was noted that staff there do look at the various aspects of the patients’ mental health.
When Stabroek News inquired as to how the mental effects of having the novel coronavirus is handled as it relates to each patient, Dr Tracey Bovell responded that the doctors along with nursing staff would engage the patients as they care for them and a psychologist comes on board to review those patients.
“We have a psychologist that comes and reviews all of the patients and speaks to them and sees if there is need for a psychiatrist to intervene,” Dr Bovell informed, adding that the review helps with understanding whether the patient will need further intervention with a psychologist or can be cleared.
She noted that a psychiatrist is also on staff and if there is need for that psychiatric evaluation or intervention, then that is done. Since the opening of the facility at Liliendaal on the East Coast Demerara, the head doctor stated, there has been minimal need to have that type of intervention done.
According to Bovell, because the patients are not allowed to have visitors, as was the norm prior to the pandemic, they are kept in contact with family members and relatives through phone calls and video conferencing.
Members of the media questioned whether follow-ups are done with patients when discharged and it was revealed that staff at the facility do engage in such action and some patients are referred to clinics. “When someone is discharged from here, the person is followed up according to their name so we’re not going to automatically send you to every clinic in Guyana, you’re sent to the clinic that’s appropriate for you,” Dr Bovell said.
Long COVID Facility
Meanwhile, Head of Professional and Medical Services at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation, Dr Fawcett Jeffrey stated that this follow-up is necessary as some patients even after being cleared from having COVID-19, may still have some manifestations of the virus.
“Even though they are cleared and we call that long COVID, so we have the manifestations that are prolonged,” Dr. Jeffrey said. He added that even when patients with the novel coronavirus were managed at the Georgetown Public Hospital, they had set up a system where internists would see these persons in a clinic setting. “We are trying to establish something more organised for those patients in these times so that they can have a better organised clinic. So we were doing it already but we are trying to be better organised.”
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony noted that this “Long COVID Unit” will be established and would be multidisciplinary as the virus affects almost every system in the body. “And you started with mental health, there are cases where the virus itself would invade the neurons in the brain and can cause prolonged problems and so they can have different signs.”
He mentioned that they have seen patients who have been cleared of COVID-19 and later end up having cardiac problems, while in other cases, some persons who never had diabetes, start presenting signs and symptoms of diabetes along with other illnesses that affect other systems.
“So if people are presenting with these symptoms after having [been] cleared of active infection then we need to follow them up and make sure that you guide them through and help them as they recover from this.” Anthony explained.
