It's been 13 days since 48-year-old Harpal Singh, the sarpanch (village head) of Pathlawa village in Punjab’s Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar (SBS) district was declared COVID-19 free. But he stayed on till Sunday in the quarantine ward of the district hospital in Nawanshahr because his 72-year-old mother had also tested positive and was admitted to the hospital.
A very relieved Mr Singh is now all set to return home with his mother who has also recovered and tested negative.
The mother and son were among 19 cases from SBS district. Punjab's first death due to COVID-19 — of a 70-year-old man on March 18 — was also recorded from Mr Harpal’s village of Pathlawa.
However, no fresh case has been reported from the district since March 26 and 17 of the 19 infected persons have been treated and discharged. Only one 15-year-old patient remains under treatment at the district hospital.
‘Combat fear’
“I was admitted on March 22 after my samples tested positive and was discharged on April 7 after reports were found to be negative, but I didn't want to go without my mother. And I decided to stay at the quarantine ward of the hospital. Today, I am happy that my mother has also been cured and we will both go back home,” Mr. Harpal told The Hindu on the phone.
Thanking the dedication of hospital staff for their recoveries, Mr. Harpal said people need to stay clam and overcome their fears if they test positive for COVID-19.
“Doctors and other staff at the hospital counselled me and kept motivating me, it helped me a lot. It may not be easy but one should overcome his/her fear and have courage. Practising hygiene and taking precautions are other important things to be kept in mind,” he added.
“In case there's any symptom of coronavirus, one should immediately get the treatment and should not be afraid. The earlier the treatment starts, the better it is,” Mr. Harpal emphasised. “Also, I believe that a patient’s family and close ones should stay in touch to keep up the morale. Loneliness is devastating. I kept listening to Gurbani (hymns from the Granth Sahib),” he added.
Successful strategy
Deputy Commissioner Vinay Bublani, said as soon as the first COVID-19 death was reported from SBS district, the administration initiated a strategy to geographically tag affected areas.
“In this process 15 effected villages were sealed and the containment plan was strictly implemented. We subsequently contact-traced the possible cases and sent their samples for testing. 469 samples were collected out of which 19 were declared positive. They were all kept at isolation centres,” he said.
Mr. Bulani added that at the isolation centre the patients were not only medically treated but also mentally motivated and counselled. “All these practices resulted in recovery of patients and further helped in controlling the spread of the virus. Aggressive testing along with community effort and the team effort by the district administration, police and health department has enabled us to achieve the positive results,” he said.
