Singing songs, gossiping, Covid-19 patients at Banur hospital keep spirits high

It’s a battle zone all right, but 72 Covid-19 patients at the Gian Sagar Hospital in Banur, Punjab, are keeping their spirits high by watching TV, checking the latest news on their mobile phones, cracking jokes, and yes, even gossiping.

The patients from all parts of Punjab, including Mohali, Fatehgarh Sahib and Rupnagar, have been isolated in special wards and are sharing lighthearted banter and stories from home. Most of them are asymptomatic.

Things are good, “We get morning tea and healthy meals three times a day and the menu is changed every week. There are around 30 beds and a television set in each ward,” said a patient.

The Punjab government had on March 17 designated the 300-bed Gian Sagar hospital as its quarantine centre.

Patients are being admitted there since March 25, and 32 have already been released after recovering from the disease.

“Our frontline doctors and medical staff always keep the patients in good humour. We have toys for children in the wards and the menu can be changed if they want it so. At present, we have a seven-year-old patient with us. Almost all the patients are asymptomatic and are responding well to treatment,” said Dr SPS Goraya, medical superintendent of the hospital.

As most patients have their mobile phones with them, the hospital was planning to provide WiFi services in the wards, Dr Goraya added.

A 58-year-old man from Premgarh village who was admitted on April 30 after testing positive upon his return from Sri Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, said “13 of my family members who also tested positive are admitted here. We feel at home over here and most of us spend time watching TV, talking to other family members on the phone and regaling each other with funny stories. We don’t have any symptoms and feel hale and hearty. It’s hard to believe we have Covid-19,” he said.

A 55-year-old patient from Amrala village in Dera Bassi said most of the patients were related to each other and passing time talking to each other and gossiping. “We are calling up relatives and also receiving calls from our near and dear ones and others who wish us well.”

She says she does miss home, but hopes to go back “as the days are passing by quickly.”