This is an archive article published on March 31, 2020
Vadodara’s first COVID-19 patient discharged
The patient will now be in home quarantine for 14 days with the authorities checking on him everyday and helping him with essential supplies and food.
Written by Aditi Raja
Ahmedabad/vadodara | Updated: March 31, 2020 06:48 PM IST
4 min read
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The 49-year-old businessman of Vadodara, who recovered from Covid-19, has been discharged. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)
A 49-year-old man, who became Vadodara’s first Covid-19 positive case on March 18, was discharged Tuesday after 14 days of treatment at the SSG hospital in the city. The businessman, who shuttles between Vadodara and Spain, received a warm welcome from his immediate neighbours who offered him a bouquet of flowers, even as he was escorted by administration and police officials on his arrival.
Sporting a red shirt, white pajamas, and a face mask, he requested people waiting to welcome him to keep a safe distance and also allow him to rest in his house owing to a pre-existing gout condition in his left leg. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said, “At first, when I reported high fever and the doctors referred me to SSG hospital for a Covid-19 test, I was unable to come to terms with it. I thought, ‘How can it happen to me? I haven’t met anyone or socialised with anyone from a country where the epidemic is on’. When I arrived in India from Spain on March 7, the situation in Spain was also very normal. In fact, the virus has spread so quickly only in the last two weeks that it’s scary.”
He feels he may have contracted the virus during his travel. “I took a flight from Spain to Dubai and Dubai to Mumbai and then travelled by road to Vadodara. I have a feeling that my connecting flight from Dubai to Mumbai was a culprit as it was a hopping flight and I have a feeling it wasn’t sanitized well. I may have accidentally touched something contaminated on that flight.”
He has been in the business of olive oil trading since over a decade, which prompted him to shift base to Spain, where his wife and two children are currently in lockdown. “My children study there but right now they are also in lockdown. They are worries about me but I have assured them that I am completely cured now,” he says, standing in the drive way of his house in Makarpura.
The 14-day stay at the government hospital, he says, has been a mix of anxiety and hope. “I must say that the doctors and staff at the hospital are working so hard. Not even for a moment did they allow me to feel morally low or scare me. They would only build my hope, even knowing that it is a new case for them. It gave me the courage to fight mentally. Although, every time a patient was brought in for a test or for isolation or a positive case, it would cause a lot of anxiety… Thoughts like what is going on outside? Is it really a bad epidemic here…”
Along with the patient, 11 of his contacts who were quarantined have also been discharged, including a domestic help who worked in his house after he arrived in Vadodara. He said, “I would like to tell those who are suffering this disease right now that they will be fine if they stay mentally strong. Everyone has different symptoms, some have fever, some have respiratory issues. I only had high fever.”
The patient will now be in home quarantine for 14 days with the authorities checking on him everyday and helping him with essential supplies and food, District Collector Shalini Agarwal said.
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
Expertise:
Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including:
Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground.
Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure.
Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case).
Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions.
Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... Read More
4 min read
The 49-year-old businessman of Vadodara, who recovered from Covid-19, has been discharged. (Express photo by Bhupendra Rana)
