Resilient and cheerful women have ignited hope amid the gloom surrounding the spike in COVID-19 positive cases and resultant deaths in Assam .
Octogenarian Anima Boro was the 14,105th COVID-19 patient discharged from the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) on July 17. Her discharge almost coincided with the death of a 75-year old – Assam’s 51st victim of the virus – in the same hospital.
She was critically ill during hospitalisation after testing positive more than a week ago but doctors said her will to survive and ability to stay cheerful saw her through.
“Everyone dies but I did not want to die because of an alien virus,” the 80-year-old said, appreciating the care she received.
She was the second to “defeat” the novel coronavirus.
On July 16, the staff at GMCH gave a warm send-off to 93-year-old Jibini Devi Baid. Doctors said her mental positivity helped overcome her “positive” status.
“Her recovery from COVID-19 underlines the competence of our doctors who handled the delicate case with precision,” Assam Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
On July 18, he tweeted about 10 COVID-19 positive women who gave “us an opportunity to smile amid adversity”.
These women, undergoing treatment at the GMCH, gave birth to six boys and four girls during the last 48 hours.
The Assam government has also made a man from Goalpara district and a sub-inspector of a police station in Guwahati the templates for its Plasma Hero campaign. Both were discharged from GMCH after recovery from the infection.
The duo donated their plasma to help others undergo plasma therapy, which Dr. Sarma said helps 90% of patients recover without any side-effects.
The first plasma donor was a person from Karnataka who is post-graduate medical student in Guwahati.
Dr. Sarma on July 16 said plasma donors would be given preference during job interviews and for various beneficiary schemes in Assam. Plasma donors elsewhere in the country would also be made state guests and provided free air tickets to visit the State, he said.
By 11:55 pm on July 17, Assam had 21,864 COVID-19 positive cases , of which 51 resulted in deaths and three people migrated to other States. There were 7,705 active cases at the last count, with almost 65% infected people having recovered and discharged.
