Life more important than anything else: Recovered patients

Vaibhav Ganjapure | TNN | Apr 15, 2020, 05:51 IST

Nagpur: Life is more important than anything else, assert the city’s second and fourth positive patients as they returned to normal life at the end of their 14-day home quarantine period after discharge from the hospital. From Monday, both the recovered Covid patients have started regular work.
Both IT professionals were admitted to Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on March 12 after being tested positive for coronavirus infection. They had travelled to the USA with a colleague, who turned out to be the city’s first positive patient and their nightmare started soon after they landed in the city.
Unlike the first patient, both were asymptomatic. Though they were discharged from the hospital on March 28, they were asked to be remain home quarantined for 14 days.
“It was a nightmarish period. These 30 days seemed like a year, but at the end of the day I am happy to be back to the normal life,” says the fourth patient.
Echoing same sentiments, the second patient said the entire month was eventful. “I’ve categorized this period into five phases. Right from the initial phase of shock, trauma and panic to sense of satisfaction after end of the hospitalization and home quarantine, I’ve experienced it all,” he says.
“This one month taught us life’s lessons. Despite strong desire to take daughters into lap or touch parent’s feet after return to home, we were unable to do so. We used to wash our clothes and utensils,” they said.
To get rid of boredom, both the IT professionals slowly started their regular work while in the home quarantine period. From Monday, both have started their regular work from home that stretched beyond eight hours. “I started my day after eating a sweet given by parents, who were much relieved. Then I got back to my work at 10am and interacted with my colleagues. It boosted my spirits,” says the fourth patient.
“I along with my daughters performed exercises together in the morning for the first time and then I started my work at about 10.30am. The kids were initially confused about what had happened to me. At present, I am not focusing on the official work and colleagues are helping me out,” said the second patient.
Both the recovered patients not only thanked the doctors and health care workers at GMCH for giving them a new lease of life, but also their family members, friends and relatives for supporting them at the moment of crisis. Both also lauded efforts of the NMC officials and police for playing a big role in containing the deadly contagion.
“Every day, NMC and police officials used to visit us for enquiring about our health and spraying sanitizers. They also used to take our waste separately, while cops used to keep watch as to whether we were following the quarantine rules or not. Hats off to all these workers, who’re risking their lives for containing the spread of the deadly virus,” they say, adding that they had never seen government machinery so much active.