Covid-recovered Idukki Congress leader on mission to spread awareness

A month after recovering from Covid-19 infection, A P Usman, former vice-president of Idukki DCC, is back to social life launching a campaign to create awareness on the pandemic.
A P Usman, former vice-president of Idukki DCC
A P Usman, former vice-president of Idukki DCC

KOCHI: A month after recovering from Covid-19 infection, A P Usman, former vice-president of Idukki DCC, is back to social life launching a campaign to create awareness on the pandemic. On Wednesday, Usman handed over a cheque for Rs 1 lakh contributed by UK Idukki Charity Group to the Idukki SP to provide medical care for policemen involved in lockdown enforcement.

After recovering from the disease, Usman, a native of Cheruthoni, has been active on social media, spreading the message on the need to observe personal hygiene to avoid contracting the disease. After completing the quarantine period, he has been involved in the distribution of food kits to people affected by the lockdown. He also leads Sahaya Kendra, a social service organisation that distributes daily meals to around 350 patients at Idukki Medical College.

“More than the disease, it was the social ostracism and political witch hunt that pained me. I wanted to ensure that no one contracted the disease through me. I had picked up a 10-month-old grandchild of a Congress leader 10 days before I tested positive. Luckily, the child did not contract the disease,” he said. 
Usman said the campaign that he travelled across the state spreading the disease was politically motivated. 

“I was suffering from fever from March 15 onwards and had visited the hospital the following day. On March 20, I went to the mosque for namaz, but there were no symptoms at that time. On March 22, I fell sick again and went to the hospital where my swab was taken. On March 26, I was tested positive and admitted to the isolation ward. They conducted three more tests and all the results were negative. I was discharged from the hospital on April 3 and I quarantined myself in a room for the next 14 days,” he said.

Usman said people had ostracised those who used to meet him often. “My friend Joby Mathew, who is a dairy farmer, was stopped from selling milk at the Madathinkavu Milk Cooperative Society for 28 days just because he met me at a meeting on March 11. He was forced to pour down the drain around 30 litres of milk a day for 30 days as no one was ready to buy it. He earns a living rearing his five cows and the collector had to intervene to make the milk society buy milk from him,” he said.

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