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Elderly advised to focus on health during pandemic

Source
Jakarta Post - December 28, 2020

Jakarta – The national COVID-19 task force has conducted a study of the risks of COVID-19 mortality based on age and comorbidities.

According to an analysis by a team of experts over the past five months, COVID-19 patients aged 60 and above are 19.5 times more likely to die than those between the ages of 19 and 30.

In response to this heightened risk, a team of lecturers from the University of Indonesia School of Medicine has offered medical counselling for the elderly in parts of Jakarta, Depok and Bekasi, West Java.

Medical doctor Dwi Anita Suryandari suggested the elderly improve their physical health by maintaining a balanced diet and consuming more fiber.

She reminded those aged 65 and above to consume less carbohydrates.

"Avoid fast food, and stop smoking," she said during a virtual counselling session on Sunday, as quoted by antaranews.com.

She also stressed the importance of having enough rest, physical exercise and social relationships to avoid stress.

The purpose of doing exercise for the elderly, she said, was to refresh their minds. She suggested that the elderly do light physical activities, such as walking.

Dentist Dwirini Retno Gunarto asked the elderly to drink 1.5 liters of water daily.

"Most elderly people are often reluctant to drink [water] as it makes them go to the toilet more frequently. But they need to drink water," she said.

Pulmonologist Anna Rozaliyani encouraged the elderly to consistently comply with health protocols.

She said that people felt safer when they were around family members and might forget to adhere to health protocols.

However, Anna noted the risk of contracting COVID-19 from family members who were still doing activities outside and were perhaps not following strict health protocols.

The elderly are at the highest risk of death from COVID-19.More than 25 million people in the country are aged 60 and above.

They account for 10.4 percent of the nation's more than 630,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases, but they make up the largest share of the country's more than 19,000 fatalities at 39.3 percent, according to recent official data.

And while studies are ongoing, the general conjecture is that the older a person is, the higher their risk of developing a severe case of COVID-19 if infected.

But despite this, the elderly are not likely to be among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, according to plans that former health minister Terawan Agus Putranto revealed to lawmakers recently.

This is because potential vaccines are only being tested – in later trials – on people aged 18 to 59 years, as is the case with Chinese firm Sinovac's CoronaVac, which has been tapped for emergency use authorization in the near future, according to Terawan.

Experts are in agreement that the targeted age group for vaccination should follow the available trial data and that prioritizing certain groups of people is necessary given the limited availability of vaccines. (jes)

Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/12/28/elderly-advised-to-focus-on-health-during-pandemic.htm

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