It happened in four days after diagnosis of Covid-19

Yesterday (Tuesday) I read a note of a friend that explained how quickly one of her colleagues died as a result of the Covid-19. “She passed away at 12 o’clock (Monday). She was diagnosed last week Thursday … and had been self isolating and medicating… Last night (Sunday) she was rushed to hospital after struggling with shortness of breath. Knowing my sis I’m sure she gave a big fight, but sadly it was not enough….”

I was very sad when I read this note. It was a big shock to my friend and to me who recognised the lady from a picture although I was not close to her. What was so threatening is that it took only four days since diagnosis. Of course the lady must have been ill before that time already.

So I asked myself this question – will I die?

I am ready to go. Of course I do not want to go now. There are so many contributions that I still want to make to help transform the world, but I am ready.

What is my chance of death statistically?

In South Africa between around 4 people out of 10 000 tested are positive. Out of 10 000 people that will amount to 400. From those that tested positive for the virus around 3% passed away (as calculated on May 18). In my equation this comes to 12 people. My chance is 0,12% to pass away. This differs from country to country and area to area.

What other aspects could take me into a higher risk category?

If I am over 60 (closer to 70 and beyond) there is a bigger chance of death. If there are the so called co-morbidity causes then the chance is even higher. That means other illnesses that could contribute to an earlier death. These are hypertension (high blood pressure) (8%), diabetes (9%), chronic respiratory disease (8%), cancer (8%) and cardio vascular disease (13%). The percentages indicates the number of deaths from research of one segment of Covid-19 patients. That means if 100 people get ill then your chance is 8% of passing away if you have hypertension. If you have two or more of these illnesses then of course the risk gets bigger and bigger. In New York 75% of all deaths came from people with an underlying health issue as at 13 May 2020. That is a very high figure!

 

What kills a person when you get Covid-19?

 The main amount of deaths come from ARDS : Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) occurs when fluid builds up in the tiny, elastic air sacs (alveoli) in your lungs. The fluid keeps your lungs from filling with enough air, which means less oxygen reaches your bloodstream. This deprives your organs of the oxygen they need to function.

In short: you cannot breathe.

What could I do to mitigate the risk of death?

One of the important aspects is to make sure that you get more vitamin D – the sun helps a lot for this!

 

Equally important is to make sure that your levels of Zinc and Selenium intake is sufficient to assist your body to fight the virus. Vitamin C is important too.

 

There are many conditions that you cannot make a change to over a short period of time. On the other hand, if you are overweight or obese, you could measures in place to deal with that immediately. It is not uncommon to lose 8% to 16% of your weight in a given month if you do it correctly and safely. That will immediately make a difference to hypertension if that is weight related. If you start to eat differently and fast differently (or start fasting for the first time) it will make an enormous difference.

If you are ready to make some changes to your life and you want more information, please complete the form below.