Covid-19 is marked by common symptoms like cough, cold, fever, sore throat and fatigue among others. However, there are also several non-respiratory symptoms like headache, loss of smell and taste, back pain and muscle ache. And now, several patients are experiencing hearing loss or ringing in the ears, which experts have termed as ‘Covid ear’.
“Coronavirus attacks lungs. But, apart from affecting the respiratory system, it also affects the ear, nose and throat. Loss of smell and taste are among the peculiar symptoms of Covid-19. In addition, multiple patients also reported hearing loss along with ringing sounds in the ear, known as tinnitus. This is known as Covid ear,” Dr Santosh Jha, Pulmonologist and Critical Care Specialist, Provo Transition Care, said. Explaining Covid ear, Dr Jha said, “As per researchers, the inner tissue of the human ear contains proteins that are susceptible to attack by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Thus, our ear may also show signs in the form of loss of balance or tinnitus.” Symptoms Further, the experts listed a few symptoms that indicate you might be experiencing Covid ear.
*Loss of hearing
*Tinnitus
*Loss of balance
*Ear pain According to him, these symptoms are common “due to body-wide inflammation and common involvement of ENT in Covid-19 patients”. How long can it last? The persistence of Covid ear depends on the severity of symptoms. “Mild symptoms can recover over a short period of time (7-14 days). Severe imbalance or hearing loss can take a longer time to recover,” Dr Jha elucidated. He, further, asked patients to consult an ENT specialist in case of severe symptoms. Here’s what you can do If you are experiencing Covid ear, here’s what you can do, as suggested by the expert.
The Economic Survey has acknowledged a gaping lacuna in government data regarding the impact of the pandemic on education, especially on 25 crore schoolchildren who have not entered a classroom in almost two years.
“It is difficult to gauge the real time impact of repeated lockdowns on education sector because the latest available comprehensive official data dates back to 2019-20. This provides the longer time pre-COVID trends but does not tell us how the trend may have been impacted by COVID-19 induced restrictions,” said the Department of Economic Affairs in its annual Survey.
Instead, it took the unorthodox step of extensively citing non-governmental survey data such as the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) conducted by the NGO Pratham to show that enrolment and learning have both suffered during the lockdowns.
ASER’s 2021 report showed that the number of children aged 6-14 years who are not enrolled in schools doubled from 2.5% in 2018 to 4.6% in 2021, said the Survey. ASER also found a significant shift from private to government schools, fuelled by the financial distress of parents, free facilities and families migrating back to villages. About 6 in 10 rural children did not receive any learning materials or activities during the pandemic, it said.
The digital divide has exacerbated the inequity in access to education, said the ASER report, noting that non-availability of smartphones and connectivity issues prevented a majority of rural students from accessing online education. About 6 in 10 rural children did not receive any learning materials or activities during the pandemic, it said.
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