Labourer Rampukar Pandit, whose mournful face became emblematic of the tragedy faced by poor migrants currently, has been shifted to a hospital in Begusarai, Bihar, where he met his wife and nine-year-old daughter from a distance.
The 38-year-old man, who recently reached Bihar by a Shramik Special train, was quarantined in a school near Begusarai town after his arrival. He said on Sunday that officials took him to a hospital and conducted a test.
A despondent Rampukar, who took a long and arduous journey from Delhi to reach his hometown amid the nationwide lockdown after learning of his infant son's death, broke down when PTI contacted him over phone.
"My head spins when I open my eyes and I feel very weak. They brought me to a hospital in a car from the quarantine centre yesterday afternoon," he said in a very feeble voice. "They also did tests on me, by taking swabs from throat and nose. The result has not come yet."
"I am the breadwinner of the family and I am down. I need help," he said. "I appeal to the government to help me and people like me in this tragic time. We poor will just die otherwise."