COVID horror hits home
Family of four in India suffers physical and mental turmoil, ‘social boycott’, after virus infection
Life is said to be a mixture of joy and pain, but we had never imagined that a sense of gloom would engulf us all of a sudden. We had just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with much fanfare in March and had barely settled down to our normal routine when trouble came knocking at our door.
I noticed the first sign of trouble when my wife, Madhulata, suffered from cold, cough and fever on April 19. Very soon, the rest of the household — me, and our two children — also came in the grip of fever, but we managed to recover.
Initially, we mistook the illness as seasonal flu, but as fever and cough continued troubling my wife, I contacted my family doctor who prescribed medicines used for treating COVID patients. He suggested that all of us take the medicines as a preventive measure and undergo tests to confirm if we had the COVID virus.
In the meanwhile, we noticed that our sense of taste and smell had gone. That set off acute panic as we fretted that the virus may have, indeed, entered our home.
It was all the more terrifying as the media had been rife with reports of lack of beds, oxygen and even basic medicines at hospitals, and mounting COVID death toll.
Without wasting a moment, I contacted a few diagnostic centers to collect our swab samples for COVID tests but they refused, saying they have limited staff.
On April 22, we all rushed to the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, or IGIMS, a premier medical facility in Patna, and gave our samples for testing. I was told to collect the reports the following day.
Much to my shock, all the four members in my household, myself included, tested positive. I quickly contacted my family doctor to inform him about the development after which he prescribed us new medicines, advised us to follow COVID protocols and suggested resting at home. But as there was no other family member at home, the responsibility to cook and clean fell upon me.
The first major trouble came on April 23 when my wife had diarrhea. I administered her several medicines as suggested by the doctor but her condition did not improve. The next day, the problem worsened.
I again contacted the doctor after which he suggested that I admit Madhulata to a hospital. I made several calls to a senior IGIMS official but the person did not answer the phone.
With Madhulata’s condition worsening, I contacted a journalist friend, Santosh Singh, who works for a national newspaper.
Singh advised that I immediately talk to his friend who is an officer in the Indian Police Service, or IPS, saying the officer had been alerted about my problem.
When I contacted the IPS officer, Vinay Tiwari, who is Patna city superintendent of police, he instantly picked up the call and promised to send a medical team to my residence.
Tiwari appeared like an angel to us, setting aside time to look for doctors to help me. In about 15-20 minutes, I got a call from a local police station in-charge who inquired about my home address. The officer then brought a government doctor in a police vehicle.
The doctor prescribed a number of medicines and suggested administering saline water to Madhulata for at least four days. But we had no neighbors to help us at this critical time or bring medicines for my wife.
Most of the neighbors were cooped up inside their homes and reluctant to interact with outsiders.
At this critical time, one of my son’s school friends proved to be a great help. Not only did he deliver medicines to my home, he also brought vegetables and other essential daily items to help our family during the home quarantine.
Meanwhile, a medical assistant from a private hospital came to administer saline water to my wife. After four days of constant administering of saline through veins, my wife’s condition started improving and we felt relaxed.
One morning, I felt a light smell of the spices while doing some cooking in the kitchen, and became ecstatic. I shared the news with my children, and discovered that they, too, had regained their sense of smell. My wife was also happy to feel the aroma of life, with happiness slowly returning to my family.
We are getting back on our feet now, but the horror and the near social boycott we endured during the critical period will, perhaps, never be erased from our memory.
I want to suggest one thing to the government — it should use the term “physical distancing” instead of social distancing, as the latter has virtually turned into social boycott of COVID patients.
Many coronavirus victims have been hiding their illness due to fear of social rejection and ostracism, contributing to the current spike in infections in India.