Delta variant speedy killer among COVID-19 patients

It has been noted that some persons are succumbing shortly after being diagnosed with COVID-19, and the authorities are reminding that we are dealing with the Delta variant.

In some cases it has been shown that there is quite a short period between diagnosis and subsequent death.

Five deaths recorded recently include that of a 74 year old woman who tested positive for COVID-19 on admission to the COVID ward at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) on October 2 and died of COVID pneumonia during the afternoon of the same day.

Additionally, there is also a 56-year-old female who tested positive for COVID-19 on October 1, was admitted to the COVID-19 ward at the  MCMH on October 3 and died of COVID-19 pneumonia on October 4. 

These patients are among the 33 Covid-19 deaths that have been recorded, 21 of which are related to the current spike.

The Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr.Simone Keizer-Beache, and Consultant, Urologist, Dr Rohan Deshong who were guests on Wednesday’s “Round Table Talk” on VC3, were asked by the host, and reasoned what could be the cause of this development.

“Unfortunately we are dealing with the Delta variant. The Delta variant is very aggressive, so that persons become ill in the morning and then they suddenly rapidly deteriorate,” the CMO responded. Currently the Delta, Mu and Gamma variants have all been detected in the population.

Someone may be speaking to a person without any problems in the morning and then by the evening they’re experiencing breathing problems.

“…By the time they get to hospital, they are extremely ill, and that’s what we’re seeing. That some of these people come in with very low oxygen saturations, that’s the amount of oxygen that’s circulating in the blood..,” she revealed.

“We are really asking persons that even if we have a little runny nose, you have a little cough, you go, you get checked to make sure this is what it is. And even while you are at home, especially persons with pre-existing conditions, if you notice at any point that you are vomiting or you have diarrhoea that’s not settling, you’re feeling suddenly much worse, we ask that you seek urgent care,” Keizer-Beache noted.

Dr. Deshong explained, “…the virus attaches to a certain cell in the lung and how it attaches varies. Some people have receptors that are more susceptible or more sticky so the virus attaches quicker, and when the virus attaches it creates a change in the body. We call it a Cytokine storm, basically it just means that the body reacts violently.”

“…the body reacts violently. The lungs shut down, they get wet, soggy, shut down fairly quickly, in a matter of hours you are here today and you’re gone tomorrow. It’s more likely to happen in elderly persons, persons with pre-existing conditions, but there’s some young people it happens to…”

He commented that one of the frightening things about COVID-19 is that they have seen the demographic change to younger persons as well.