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Ward Management of COVID-19 patient – case study outcomes at the Royal Melbourne Hospital – General Medical/ Respiratory Ward-5SW By Vara Perikala
COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is believed to be zoonotic in origin. The disease was first identified in December 2019 in Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, and was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization on 11 March 2020.
36 Oct–Dec 2020 Volume 27, No. 1
The incubation period of COVID-19 is from two to 14 days (WHO 2019; WHO 2020). Clinical symptoms include fever, cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, and loss of smell and taste. Most cases of COVID-19 result in mild symptoms, however, these can progress to pneumonitis, multi-organ failure or cytokine storm (Hui et al. 2019; CDC Government 2019; Hopkins 2020; Mehta et al. 2020). The standard method of diagnosis of COVID-19 is by nasopharyngeal and throat swab. Chest x-ray and chest CT imaging are helpful for diagnosis in individuals with a high suspicion of infection based on symptoms and risk factors. Bilateral multilobar ground-glass opacities with peripheral asymmetric and posterior distribution are common in early infection (Salehi et al. .2019). AIM This case study acknowledges the effectiveness of personal protective equipment (PPE), hand hygiene, and isolation. However, it will also show the importance of repeat COVID-19 PCR testing and treating pre-existing health issues and medical conditions that emerge as COVID-19 progresses.
