Coronavirus in Chennai: When Covid came visiting our neighbouring apartment

CHENNAI: “Six people tested positive for Covid-19 in our neighbouring apartment, out of which one person has passed away. Please take utmost care, wash your hand with soap/ sanitiser every time you step outside.”
I looked at the message in the apartment WhatsApp group with a growing sense of dread. It felt as if the virus was inching closer. The report I had read of coronavirus in China and the video I had seen of quarantined Italians singing on their balconies had all translated into reality when the first Covid-10 positive case was reported in Kerala as I was visiting my hometown, Kochi.
I boarded the flight back to Chennai with an N95 mask in hand, ready to don it in case it was necessary. Little did I know that in a matter of weeks, a national lockdown would be imposed. And I would be banished to the confines of my apartment.
A year ago, I had first glimpsed the same neighbours who had now tested positive. As I made breakfast in the kitchen, which overlooked theirs, I could hear the usual morning hustle and bustle of a regular household – vessels clanging as the mom made breakfast and shrieked at the kids to get ready fast, cries of protests from the children.
As the lockdown began, I started seeing more of them – taking walks on the terrace, playing with kids. The whole family clapped and clanged vessels with joy to honour the Covid-19 frontline warriors. And dutifully lit diyas even as the children ran around flashing the lights on their mobiles as requested by the PM.
Heading up to the terrace for my evening walk, now a daily ritual, I found other apartment mates talking about the latest development. Had the corporation pasted a notice on the building with infected people? No, said some. A small barricade had been placed in front of the gate. So no one can enter the building, said another.
The Arogya Setu app has been right all along, said the husband, pulling out his mobile. For the last few days, it has shown that five people tested positive within 500metre in the last 28 days! Yes, said the neighbour who broke the news, five tested positive, the paati is symptomatic but the other four are not.
All eyes wandered to the distant terrace, where one of the residents could be spotted – a middle-aged man. Unlike other times, he was now sporting a mask. “Let’s ask how they are and offer help. After all, it’s not their fault that they caught this dreaded disease,” said a neighbour.
Leaning over, he asked, “How are you, sir? All well?” The masked man replied, “Mom is positive, but she is at home in a separate room. Rest of us are fine.”
A friendly, neighbourly query. A guarded response, one borne out of fear of stigma. That’s what the virus has done to us…drawn a curtain between humans, I mused, as I pulled out my phone to check the Arogya Setu app.
Eight positive in the last 28 hours, it said, as I scanned the skyline … and the adjoining rooftops.