SRIKAKULAM: A 30-year-old man, who tested positive and was discharged recently, sold a part of his agricultural land (25 cents) to bear his treatment in a private hospital in Srikakulam. 

M Santosh Kumar, a resident of Buridi Kancharam village in Ponduru mandal, contracted the virus in the second week of last month.

Initially, he suffered from cold and fever and was advised to get himself tested by medical officials at our village, he told TNIE. He got himself tested at a voluntary testing centre set up in the Arts College and was soon admitted to Srikakulam GGH. 

“A day after I was admitted to the GGH, my test result came out. I tested positive. I had high fever and even the oxygen saturation levels had fallen down to 67,” Kumar said.

“When I told my parents about the situation I was in, they told me to shift to a private hospital for treatment. They assured me that they would bear the cost of treatment. We have one acre of land and my parents sold 25 cents of land for Rs 2 lakh for my treatment. Distress sale always undervalues the property’s market rate,” he sighed. “If the cost of Covid-19 treatment here is Rs 2 lakh, then what if one gets treated in Vizag or Vijayawada,”  he said.

Later, when his oxygen saturation level rose to 94, he was discharged from the hospital. Some of my friends also contributed Rs 70 per friend for the treatment. When he recovered and discharged from the hospital, he was under 14-day home quarantine, he added. At present, he is taking immunity-boosting drugs, besides observing all safety protocols.