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Did the fear of contagion deter patients from reporting serious conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown? A report from South India

Context: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-19 has had a devastating effect on the common man's life. Aim: To study whether the fear of contracting covid19 infection deter the patients from seeking medical help? Setting and Design: Retrospective study from hospital data were obtained from the medical record departments of four major hospitals. Materials and methods: Number of admissions for eight serious illnesses in the month of April in 2020 compared to 3 preceding years. Statistical analysis: The data were analyzed by applying multiple measures ANOVA and descriptive statistics. Results: There was a significant decrease in the number of admissions in each of the eight listed illnesses during April 2020 compared to the same period in the previous 3 years. There was no significant change in the number of deaths reported in the district during this period, as suggested by the government data. Conclusion: From the observed results, it is evident that there was a marked decline in the hospitalization for serious illnesses during the lockdown period in south India. This result is in agreement with the data from similar studies, published from hospitals worldwide.