Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) chief Raju Shetti, who recently tested positive for COVID-19, was moved to Pune from Kolhapur for treatment after he experienced breathing problems and ill-health.
Mr. Shetti, a noted farmers’ leader and a former two-time MP from Hatkanangale in Kolhapur, was rushed to the city’s Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital on Wednesday in a cardiac ambulance. Reassuring his supporters on Thursday, he said he was stable and would be kept under observation of doctors for the next week.
Speaking to The Hindu, he said he had first undergone a test on September 1 after one of his close aides had tested positive. “At the time, my swab test result had returned negative. However, a few days later, on September 4, I started feeling unwell and had fever. A high-resolution computed tomography thorax screening revealed the virus had infected my lungs. After consulting with doctors, I decided to quarantine myself at home as I felt it would help save a critical care bed for someone whose condition was worse than mine,” he said.
His wife and son, too, tested positive and are quarantined at home. However, Mr. Shetti’s health deteriorated by September 8, following which doctors advised the SSS leader to quickly move to Pune. A cardiac ambulance from neighbouring Sangli district shifted him to Pune.
“All tests were done as soon as I was admitted here [Deenanath Mangeshkar hospital]. I am suffering from a number of comorbidities. I was given oxygen and doctors started a course of remdesivir as well… I am feeling better now,” he said.
Since the past month, the SSS under Mr. Shetti has been agitating across Maharashtra for increased prices for dairy farmers who have been hit hard by the lockdown. All through August, Mr. Shetti and his SSS activists have staged agitations in Satara, Solapur, Ahmednagar and Baramati among other places, demanding that the State government announce a subsidy of ₹5 per litre of milk while urging the Centre to stop importing milk powder when thousands of tonnes generated by local farmers were lying unutilised.
“At least 20-25 of my supporters have tested positive… however, we had no option but to stage these protests given that the smaller dairy farmers were in dire economic straits,” Mr. Shetti said.
Kolhapur district, which has emerged as one of the virus hotbeds in western Maharashtra, has been reporting an average 1,000 fresh cases since the beginning of September. The district has more than 10,000 active cases and recorded over 850 deaths, with the scourge of the virus sparing neither citizen, bureaucrat or politician.
Besides Mr. Shetti, the Shiv Sena MP for Kolhapur, Sanjay Mandlik had tested positive. Congress MLA Ruturaj Patil had also tested positive this month.
The drastic spike in cases brought on by the alarming spread of the contagion has compelled authorities in Kolhapur and neighbouring Sangli district’s to call for a 10-day Janata curfew.