'Rising heart attacks among youth who had severe Covid,' warns health minister Mansukh Mandaviya

Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya has cautioned severe Covid patients against hard labour and strenuous exercise, saying that it could increase their risk of a heart attack.

Mandaviya said at the sidelines of an event in Gujarat that a study by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) shows the rise of heart attacks among youth who have recovered from severe Covid-19 infection.

He further said that these patients should avoid hard labor and strenuous exercise for at least one or two years after recovery.

“The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has done a detailed study recently. That detailed study has recommended that those who had severe Covid should desist from extra labour; that they should stay away from continuous labour, laborious running, exercise, etc., for a specified short period, meaning a year or two, so that heart attacks can be prevented,” Mandaviya said.

The minister was in Bhavnagar for the closing ceremony of Sansad Khelmahotsava, 2023, a sports carnival conducted for the youth of the Bhavnagar Lok Sabha seat, which includes the Gujarat districts of Bhavnagar and Botad.

In addition, since late 2022, an increasing number of incidents of persons in their twenties and thirties dying from heart attacks have been documented, and many people attribute these fatalities to Covid or its treatment.

There were heart attack deaths reported during garba nights this year, even though many garba organizers in Gujarat kept medical teams on standby at venues.

According to news reports, at least 10 people died of heart attacks during garba events in Gujarat in the past 24 hours during Navratri. The youngest of the victims was just 17 years old.

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