Ask the Doctor: All You Need to Know About Coronavirus

In 2021, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation together with Ukraine TV channel continues the project Ask the Doctor.

It is being implemented in the framework of the Foundation’s project Fighting Covid-19 in Ukraine, which became part of the program Rinat Akhmetov – Saving Lives. For now, nine leading experts of the Ukrainian healthcare sector have become the participants of the broadcast. Their audience numbers more than a million viewers. 

‘What is a coronavirus, how to avoid the threat of the infection and what to do if the disease is confirmed? These questions remain at the top of the agenda, so the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and Ukraine TV channel continue the project Ask the Doctor. These are weekly online meetings with leading Ukrainian doctors on the Foundation’s digital platforms. You can learn about the features of COVID-19 from a qualified expert and get a clear and understandable answer about how to behave in today’s realities. Specialists of the national level have become the participants of the project: the chief anaesthesiologist of Ukraine Serhiy Dubov, a paediatrician Yevhen Komarovskyi, doctors Svitlana Huk and Vitaliy Sokolov. The first meeting in 2021 was with Iryna Kolesnykova, a professor and head of the Epidemiology Department at Bohomoltsia National University,’ said Yulia Yershova, Director of Communications of the Foundation.

According to Iryna Kolesnykova, today’s statistical figures on the spread of the coronavirus do not reflect the real situation. One of the reasons is a missing single electronic database of testing.

‘The situation in terms of the number of hospital patients is not getting better, but you can also see what the situation in Europe is: the lockdown is tightened despite the beginning of the mass vaccination. This includes tough fines and police patrols. In addition, many Ukrainians do not follow the quarantine regulations, unfortunately. What do we need a lockdown for? This means staying at home, not going outside or to the supermarket unless extremely necessary. If I am staying at home, why do I need new socks? As long as this threat looms over us, we need to be cautious,’ said the professor.

According to her, we should not forget about the predictions of further spread of the epidemic, including due to the British strain of the virus:

‘It is more pantheogenetic and we can say it already now that it will become dominant this year. In addition, overloaded production capacities and the price of vaccines play a big role. Not all countries can afford to buy them. This limits the possibility of developing a herd immunity. Moreover, we do not know how long it lasts. It may be like the flue when seasonal vaccinations are needed.

Referring to the flue, the expert noted an interesting detail: it is almost impossible to get this disease and the coronavirus at the same time.

‘Two different viruses cannot propagate in one cell. Therefore, only one will prevail.’

Iryna Kolesnykova stressed that proper nutrition, as many people believe, is not an additional protection against the coronavirus. More than that, the immunity of a healthy person is able to protect itself.

‘You need to understand how proper your nutrition is. After all, you do not know what fruits or berries you buy. How much sugar they contain,’ said Iryna Kolesnykova.

Other interesting information can be found in the full record of the broadcast with the expert. The interview with professor Iryna Kolesnykova is available on the link.

The project Ask the Doctor is implemented jointly with Ukraine TV channel. Broadcasts with experts take place every week. The dates and time of online meetings will be announced on pages of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation in social media. You can ask your questions in comments to the announcements.