I want to go back to Wuhan and study, says India's first Covid-19 patient

She says she has immense respect for the healthcare workers

At a time when the number of coronavirus (Covid-19) cases in India is touching 28,000, and death toll is nearing 900, the country’s first patient, from Kerala’s Thrissur, who reported positive on January 30, shares with Shine Jacob her experience, her road to recovery and future plans:

I am a medical student at Wuhan University. It was on January 23 that the government of China had imposed a lockdown in Wuhan and other cities of Hubei. The lockdown was supposed to start at 10 am. We had a small window to leave the city as our train to Kunming was at 8 am, the same day. We were a group of 15 students from India.

During the journey, there were routine health check-ups on the train, the Kunming airport, and even before boarding the flight. From Kunming, it was a direct flight to Kolkata and we reached India in the evening. The Indian embassy in China had given us a health update form to fill and give at Kolkata. We had a general checkup there also. Everything was normal till I reached Kerala on January 24.

After reaching Kochi, we were asked to go on home quarantine for 28 days and the embassy had asked us to report to the nearest public health centre. I did so on January 25, and since then the local health inspector was constantly in touch with me on phone, checking my health status on a daily basis. I used to stay inside and even food was delivered to my room. I had no symptoms until then.

On January 27 morning, I woke up with a sore throat and dry cough. We immediately called up the health authorities. The state authorities sent home an ambulance and I was admitted to an isolation ward at Thrissur General Hospital. Except for sore throat and dry cough, I had no other symptoms. These symptoms were also seen for only two days. Initially, the doctors thought that it was just a normal cold. I was so relived. Some people from China were already under quarantine at that hospital. They had high temperatures.

I was a bit worried thinking about the results. A major reason for this was because of my direct contact with parents, while I was under home quarantine, as they are aged people. Luckily, my family and relatives were safe. When I got admitted, doctors started giving antibiotics. Once the tests were positive, they shifted me to the medical college. I was given anti-viral drugs and had no other medicines other than that.

Being the first patient in India, I was handled with a lot of care by the government. Hospital facilities, treatment, and interactions with healthcare staff were good. In the first set, India had only three patients in February — one was in Alappuzha, one was in Kassargod, and I was in Thrissur.  

I got discharged after tests on alternative days were negative. In my case, samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune. Hence, it used to take three days for the results to come. The sample for the final test was taken on February 16. On February 19 the result came negative. After a medical board meeting, I was discharged on February 20. I was asked to be home quarantine till March 1. My family was also quarantined along with me till March 1.

As a medical student, my request to all the readers is to listen to the government directions. We should follow the lockdown guidelines and should not come out. We should also ensure usage of masks, wash hands, and use hand sanitisers regularly. One should make it a habit. To boost immunity, people can look at natural food and medication. Though there was no diet, I used to take a lot of fruits during that time. I have great respect for health workers for whatever they are doing. They have families, too.

It is almost two months now since I have been out of the clutches of Covid-19. Now, I want to go back to Wuhan and complete my course. Coronavirus is a world-wide phenomenon. If fearing that we sit at home, all we will do is sit at home. No part of the world is immune to Covid-19 at the moment.

(As told to Shine Jacob. Name of the patient is withheld to respect her privacy.)