CHENNAI: “I've seen the pandemic bring out the best and worst out of people, COVID-19 survivor and Tamil Nadu's 'Patient No 7' told Express. She was among the first batch of patients who were discharged from the ESI hospital in Coimbatore on Monday after having recovered from the virus.
After 17 days in isolation, the woman went home to a hero's welcome from neighbours on Monday night.
"My neighbours stood out in their corridors and clapped as I stepped inside. In so many years of staying here, I've largely kept to myself; I don't know my neighbours. So, it was thoughtful of them to do that," she said. She and her family have since been fielding dozens of calls from concerned and 'not-so-concerned' relatives and friends.
For Patient 7, knowing that both members of her immediate family tested negative, was the biggest relief, setting her off on a fairly quick path to recovery.
"In fact, when compared to the other times that I've fallen sick, I felt fine physically. For a few hours one day, I had wheezing due to a blocked nose. Other than that, I was fine," she said.
She had her mobile phone and laptop to keep her company in the isolation ward and had been taking her University exams, filling internship applications and attending interviews. When she had the time, she chose to clean her own room and bathroom and even briefly counselled an anxious COVID-19 patient in the next room.
"The food and facilities were fine. Also, the nurses and the dean were really caring and supportive. In fact, when I asked a nurse how she was coping with handling patients, she told me that if she were to get the virus herself, another nurse would definitely tend to her," she said.
As soon as she was admitted, she was contacted by bureaucrats of the three States that she passed through on her journey to Coimbatore and all the people who had traveled with her had been traced in a matter of two days, she said.
Although, among the first to undergo treatment for the virus, she had to wait a week for both her test results to come back before being discharged, she said.
"I began feeling completely fine and they took my sample to check if it tested negative for the virus. Between taking the two samples and the results coming back, it was already a week. Also, they wanted to discharge us in a batch. Otherwise, I could have been discharged earlier," she said.
Having had the misfortune of being among the first patients to test positive for the virus in Coimbatore, her identity had been constantly probed and her personal information leaked. Although she made an effort to stay away from social media during her time in isolation, some of the rumours reached her through WhatsApp. Purported photos of her apartment and rumours about the health condition of her family surfaced online.
"I came forward to get tested for the virus as soon as I came to Coimbatore (at the Government hospital in Gopalapuram) and I was told that I didn’t have the virus and was sent back. Even then, I had responsibly quarantined myself to my room which was why nobody in my family caught it from me," she said.
"I don't understand how the identity of a person matters in a pandemic. How, we as a society, handle this collectively would speak volumes for us on the global stage," she said.