E-Paper
6-year-old untouched by Covid-19 despite 15-day exposure to ill patients
Gurnoor Singh, 6, of Gurdaspur’s Dostpur village had accompanied his parents on their pilgrimage to Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, were they were stranded for around one and a half months
In a peculiar case, a six-year-old boy remained unaffected by Covid-19, despite staying with his infected parents during their 15-day long treatment period in the isolation ward of Gurdaspur civil hospital.
Gurnoor Singh of Gurdaspur’s Dostpur village had accompanied his parents on their pilgrimage to Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, were they were stranded for around one and a half months. On return, he tested negative for Covid-19, but his parents turned out infected and were isolated in the hospital.
“As other family members of the boy had also tested positive for Covid-19, nobody was there to look after him in his parents’ absence. Moreover, the child insisted to live with his parents. Under these circumstances, the administration decided to allow him to live with his parents in the isolation ward, where total 40 patients were admitted,” said Gurdaspur civil surgeon Dr Kisan Chand.
Gurnoor’s father said, “Though we were asymptomatic, keeping him (son) with us in the isolation ward was risky as we had tested positive and many infected patients were there. We kept him with us because we had no other option and my son was not ready to live without us. However, we took every precaution advised by the doctors.”
He was tested twice, and the results were negative both times. After his parents recovered and were discharged from the hospital on Thursday, he was presented with a siropa (robe of honour) by Punjab jails and cooperation minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa in the presence of senior district officials.
When asked how the boy was able to resist the infection, Dr Chand said, “First of all, his immunity played a major role. Secondly, we gave special attention to this case to keep him fit. Besides ensuring that the family wore masks and sanitised hands at all times, we asked the child to sleep on a separate bed alone, and he followed the advice. This helped him keep the infection at bay.”
