By Olamide Francis
World Health Organization (WHO) issued fresh clinical advice on for the treatment of COVID-19 patients including those displaying persistent symptoms after recovery.
The global health body also said it advised using low-dose anti-coagulants to prevent blood clots.
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Speaking during a briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, the WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris advised clinicians to put patients into the awake prone position, on their front to improve the oxygen flow.
She said, “The other things in the guidance that are new are that COVID-19 patients at home should have the use of pulse oximetry, that’s measuring the oxygen levels, so you can identify whether somewhat at home is deteriorating and would be better off having hospital care.
“Also we recommend, we suggest the use, of low-dose anti-coagulents to prevent blood clots forming in blood vessels. We suggest the use of lower doses rather than higher doses because higher doses may lead to other problems.’’
She added that a WHO-led team of independent experts, currently in the central Chinese city of Wuhan where the first human cases were detected in December 2019, is due to leave quarantine in the next two days to pursue its work with Chinese researchers on the virus origins.
She however declined to comment on reports of delays in roll-out of vaccines in the European Union. She said she had no specific data and the WHO’s priority was for health workers in all countries to be vaccinated in the first 100 days of the year.
