According to Business Standard, the number of COVID-19 cases in India is currently at 206 with infections being reported from different states across the country. But the first few people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus were 14 Italian tourists on a trip to Rajasthan, Agra, and Delhi.
On March 5, they were transferred from ITPB isolation center to Medanta – The Medicity Hospital, Gurugram, under the care of Dr. Sushila Kataria, Director in the Department of Internal Medicine, and her team.
Earlier, the 42-year-old healthcare professional spread awareness about the coronavirus through an informative video and recently she described her experience of the past 15 days while treating the Italian patients, 13 of whom are over 68 years of age, in an interview with HuffPost India.
The doctor who was responsible for setting up the isolation ward within 5 hours interacts with the patients through a hazmat suit. She was quoted saying,
“It was a big shock to them to be detected with a deadly virus load on foreign land and not being able to return to their country due to the suspension of flights between the two countries. Also, the situation in Italy is worse than India and they may not be able to take any more viral load.”
“Language still is a big barrier between us. We normally communicate through Google Translate. While two of them know English, I cannot ask them to help every time as they too get tired fast. While these patients behave normally, they do get agitated sometimes due to isolation.”
She has created a WhatsApp group with the patients and their families to keep everyone informed and cheerful. She was quoted adding, “They sometimes lose hope. After every test, they repeatedly ask me the results. As they are still positive, they do get agitated sometimes.”
On the personal front, her husband who is suffering from inflammatory arthritis has been living at their farmhouse. She hasn’t met him or entered her children’s room in 15 days.
“I avoid touching the doorknobs, the buttons in the lift and also any light switches. Also, I ensure that while talking, I should maintain a distance of at least two meters.”
Out of the 14, 11 are getting better but 3 are in critical condition. We wish them a speedy recovery. Also, as per PM Modi’s appeal, let’s observe the ‘Janata Curfew‘ on March 22 and at 5 pm, cheer for Dr. Kataria and all other medical workers who are doing all that they possibly can to contain COVID-19.