Sasi Nair
Mumbai, April 26
Coronavirus causes respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Many would already have had it but wouldn’t have known it and carried on with their lives as usual. Some of the less fortunate ones would have tested positive and quarantined, either at home or in hospital beds while unfortunate ones have met with fatalities.
Well more than being infected with the virus sometimes it is the exploitative nature of fellow human beings in the society that perhaps become more painful than suffering from the virus itself. Anushka, a resident in Delhi, a city which has witnessed a sharp surge in Covid cases in the last few weeks sharing her experiences said it has been a nightmare for me and my family. Anushka and her parents have been battling Covid and it was during this tough time that she learnt that it all has to be hushed up as publicizing it makes you a pariah in the society.
One just needs to visit the hospitals and see the condition – there are no kits available, the public needs to keep waiting and fighting with the authorities to get the reports, and that too after three days of being heckled in most cases. Then when you are in home isolation with no one to go and buy things from the market, ordering online is the only hope to keep your hunger away. Leading outlet channels such as Spencer’s Retail, Nature’s Basket, Big Basket, etc. tell that delivery will take a longer time as demand is peaking while in some cases they refuse as they can’t deliver due to Covid protocols.
For those who are trapped alone in a city, the situation is more challenging as in case they get infected then no relatives or friends can come to help them get into a hospital, at best you can call some emergency numbers and ask for ambulances. Then again getting a bed is an issue with the number of cases rising, admission becomes a problem, and oxygen cylinders are running scarce as seen in the case of Delhi. The situation is currently grim with patients dying outside the hospital without getting access to basic medical treatment, Perhaps it is far worse than it was when the lockdown was first announced, it is better to stay disconnected from the society, isolate yourselves, Covid or not, and connect on digital platforms.
