The coronavirus effect: Doctors are reporting a sharp decline in the number of people coming to hospitals in order to receive important treatments. For example, Israel has about 20,000 stroke cases every year, one every 30 minutes on average – though recently teams handling such cases and neurology departments are reporting a concern that prevents people from arriving at the hospitals. In fact, the neurologist association reports of a 40% decline in hospital arrivals in stroke cases.
"A stroke is a medical condition which requires quick medical attention, despite the coronavirus panic," warns the head of the neurologist association, Prof. David Tane. "When the first symptoms begin showing, you shouldn't hesitate, rather call an ambulance and arrive at the hospital, in order to increase the chances of receiving lifesaving treatment and minimize long term damage, which could be crippling". He addsed: "Our teams are working to reduce the number of hospitalizations as much as possible and recommend that people go to their family doctor if possible. Yet, symptoms of a stroke require a quick evacuation to the hospital as to not miss the window of opportunity for quick treatment which could prevent debilitating consequences. The symptoms of a stroke are a sudden feeling of weakness on a single side of the body, sudden trouble speaking, the person's mouth angles downwards, etc."
