One of the Gujarat’s first confirmed coronavirus patients tells her story

A young girl from Ahmedabad who contracted the illness caused by the new coronavirus is speaking out about her experience, she is one of the first COVID-19 positive patients admitted to SVP Hospital shared her story on social media to make people aware of the symptoms and the way to deal with it. In spite of all precautions taken by her, she was tested positive and busted the myth that young people are immune to this virus. 

Her Social Media post :

“As one of the first few to be tested +ve for the COVID-19 in Ahmedabad, sitting on the hospital bed I think I’ll feel better sharing my journey with you all before Whatsapp forwards, form my narrative.

I started 2020 with the thought of gifting myself a trip to Finland to see the northern lights. I was tracking the Corona Virus from Jan 15th, the Wuhan Days. I knew that the world is in for an unprecedented event but for some reason, I thought it’s too far from me…..I’ll take necessary precautions….I know better…I’ve read so much….And of all the people…it won’t be me!
I took my flight to Finland beginning March. Flying domestic + International + Airports: I Wore an N99 mask, sanitized my hands 100 times, washed my hands for 30 seconds as many times as I could, put the air vents on in my seat, sanitized my tray table and armrests. I felt awkward wearing a mask where 90- 95 % people weren’t and for the looks I got.

You really cannot NOT use your hands or not touch your mask, considering security checks, passport controls, hunger, thirst etc … I still fancied my chances cause there were less than 10 cases in Finland when I started my journey …. WHAT were the odds of me catching it?? Slim.
I came back to India, with the COVID-19 turned into a pandemic but India still had relatively few cases. I came back with no hugs for the family, kept my distance from them, sprayed PeeSafe sanitizer on my bags in & out. Removed only the essentials and left my bags in one bathroom.

On 14th March I got a slight fever and I isolated myself in my room. Next morning, my parents spoke to my GP about my low grade fever (99-100.7) and he advised us with some antibiotics for the flu considering I came from -15 degrees to +25 from Finland.

There was a small table placed outside my room which was used to hand over things I needed. I washed my utensils in my bathroom sink with soap and very hot water. Before leaving my utensils out, I would open the door, wash my hands, carry the utensils and place them on the table just outside, to make sure that if I had any infection, it wasn’t on the vessels. My mom then rewashed the utensils. This was a process we followed for all days I was in self-isolation.

I would wash my own clothes in Dettol and hot water and send them outside, obviously washing my hands, sanitizing the bucket handle with Dettol water and then leaving it outside.
My GP called me to the clinic to check on my symptoms. I went alone in a car that was kept only for my use. Nobody else in the family was allowed to use that car. I wore an N99 mask at the clinic and sat far away from everyone. Looking at my mask, the team and the doctor wore masks before meeting me and I am glad that they did. My symptoms still persisted of rigours and fever and I was informed that I had a mild upper respiratory infection and should continue with my meds. I went back home, parked my car in the sunniest place I could find to kill germs as much as possible. I Did NOT USE the lift, called my mom to make sure the door was open, so that I didn’t touch any door knobs and straight went into my room. The fever persisted for 2 days between normal and 100.8 with no cough, no respiratory distress, nothing.

In the meanwhile, I did NOT go to collect our award which 7Violettes won for the Times Food Awards, something that we have worked hard for, for 6 years. I did NOT go to the patisserie to meet my team after coming back. From the first sign of discomfort, I completely isolated myself. I knew that from all that I’ve read that taking precautions and being paranoid can save us from tremendous difficulty.

Having opened my small business we have been fortunate enough to come across kind & concerned customers who’ve turned friends and well-wishers, more so guardian angels. Meemansa has been that person for us and a doctor at SVP hospital who has taken us through this entire ordeal. My sister, Suvritii, decided to call her and tell her my symptoms. The day I spoke to her, I felt good, the fever was nearly gone and no other symptom to speak off. We decided to wait and watch and if something is to get worse we would call her again.

16th March I felt a slight cough and a little tightness in the chest. The symptoms were so mild but I still called Meemansa and she told me to come to meet her at SVP hospital. I wore my mask, drove down alone again and went to meet her. She examined my chest, I had slight wheezing and I was told to get tested for COVID-19.

Inspite of all that I did, I am petrified for my family at home and I pray that they haven’t got anything from me. Even with the utmost care, there must have been some slip ups. However they are in quarantine and symptom-free for the last 8 days….we still have some days, many hours and even more minutes to go before I can breathe free. I am counting downtime like I never have before. I am definitely more concerned about them, than I am about myself.

Please take care guys whether you are sick or not sick, it’s not worth the risk. However, if you do think you’ve got it, please do not panic. We’ve got doctors here that take great care and have a handle on the situation. As long as the numbers are few, this can be managed to a large extent.

Thank you for all your prayers, wishes, messages, concern, love & talking to me all the time to keep my spirits up ❤️”

 
To respect the privacy of the patient, we have not mentioned the personal identity details. This story is for awareness purposes and to bust myths around the novel coronavirus. Gujarat Government is taking aggressive steps to combat this crisis and citizens need to co-operate with the guidelines and maintain social distance. Gujarat is completely locked down till 31st March.