Our Brush With Corona

Chapter VI

In my previous chapter, I have mentioned about some incidents which I had faced during the nascent and infancy stages of the pandemic. I am sure many of you may have gone through similar experiences. Some may say that the mentioning of such incidents is avoidable as it adds to the general picture of pessimism. My viewpoint is slightly different. I feel that by recalling the worst moments of this pandemic that we have successfully endured; we make it easier for us to parry the other less uncomfortable ones. It is much like the theory of relativity; difficult times appear less difficult when they are compared to the most difficult ones. And COVID bore the stamp of apocalypse when it had first arrived. The image may have become less diabolic during the current times, but you take it for granted at your own peril.

For now, I would revert to my story where I had left it off; the time when my parents had to go for home isolation after testing COVID positive with two sentries posted near their entrance and I returning to my home awaiting the result of the RT- PCR test of the swab samples of my wife, daughter and me, which had been taken on the 28th of November.

As I have mentioned earlier, ever since the 27th of November, the date my parents had tested positive, I had practically locked myself up in a room keeping myself away from any contact with my family, since I was exposed to my parents the most, at the time they had tested positive. I kept the door to my room closed on all occasions and only on the rarest of rare occasions, I went to the roof of my flat to catch some fresh air or get some walk. Of course, before stepping out, I would be wearing a mask, avoid touching any surface or things and my wife and daughter would lock themselves up in their room. The whole process would be repeated on my return to the room.

Inside the room it was binge watching on TV and reading. In fact, I will hardly call the whole saga, an uncomfortable experience, for in the company of books, I always at peace with myself. With them around me, I can manage to pass time anywhere.

The process of having meals, though not cumbersome, was way different from the routine. A stool had been placed outside my room near the door. Whenever my wife would serve me food, she would place the food on the stool and give me a call. I would then open the door, have the food inside, wash the utensils and place it back on the stool. My utensils would be kept separately, and my wife would only touch them after wearing gloves. This was our special drill put into effect from the 27th of November and this was designed to continue were I to test positive later.

Till now, everything was fine. And then something terrible happened on the 29th of November. The news came that a lady who lived three blocks away, and who had been infected with COVID, died due to complications on the 29th. The lady was in her late forties and known to us. A security guard posted at the gate of my Residential Complex phoned me and informed me about this incident, perhaps warning me to be extra vigilant about my parents. It seems the lady had been unwell for the last ten days showing some of the symptoms of COVID. She kept herself in home isolation, not getting herself tested and not taking any medicine either. Five days earlier, her condition took a turn for the worse and she had to be hospitalised. But she never recovered and died in the hospital. I was deeply saddened. A precious life had been lost due to ignorance and apathy. At least she should have got herself tested, for her approach would have been different had she known that she was suffering from COVID. I would advice anyone who gets these persistent symptoms of COVID, symptoms which have given such widespread publicity in every conceivable place, to get themselves tested for COVID at the first opportunity. We may turn out be lucky in handling this disease without medical supervision, but on the flip side, the risks are far too many and the consequences can be disastrous. Sound advice from a doctor always helps. I thanked the guard but requested him not to inform my parents. No use in dampening their morale.

But the damage had been done already. One lady posted as a home guard near my parents' home did the 'good deed', informing them about the tragedy. My mother called me over the phone , soon after, and in an excited voice gave me all the details that I already knew. She pretended to be brave about it, but I knew that my parents would be rattled by the incident.

The tragic incident again put me in a quandary about whether my parents were better off in a hospital. I have often wondered about my mother's unreasonable antipathy towards admission in a hospital. I think that it stems from an extremely uncomfortable gall bladder removing surgery performed on her, years ago. Some complications had developed, and she had to spend many days in a hospital, having a harrowing time in the process, even though we did our best to cheer her up. Perhaps, even this she would have somehow managed to put up with, but for the fact that when she was in the US, she had almost round-the-clock been exposed to news from all over the world and falsely arrived at the notion that aged people do not fare too well in hospitals when they were affected with COVID. Which incident specifically reinforced this belief; I do not know. I am sure many people like me, having the good fortune of having aged parents living with them would know that we must empathize with many of the deep-rooted convictions of our parents, even if we do not fully agree with them. They are always more at peace with these convictions, and one should not rattle that at such a crucial juncture, for a thing like COVID is best fought with a calm mind, free from turmoil.

Be what it may, at the end of the day, the 29th of November 2020, the situation was that my parents remained at their home, I was left awaiting the result of the COVID test which would come the following day.

But I would confess that I was shaken to the roots. And in the night, I prayed to the Almighty to allow me to be with my parents, somehow!

...........to be continued.........