There was shortage of safety gear, says doctor who tested positive; recovers

Sheenam’s role was to ensure proper collection of samples, sealing them and sending them to the lab for testing.

Of the 10 confirmed cases of Sars-Cov-2 in Gurugram city, nine have recovered. One among them is 35-year-old Dr Sheenam, a resident of Sector 9 who is also the nodal officer at the Covid-19 sample collection lab at Sector 10 Civil Hospital, who tested positive on March 20 after she began handling a series of suspected cases from the first week of March.

Doctors wearing protective face masks manning a COVID-19 helpdesk, on day 7 of the three week nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

“I had to be admitted to a private hospital on March 21 after testing positive for Covid-19. Leaving my eight-month-old son and husband behind was not easy,” said Sheenam, who was disheartened to see her family disturbed. “They were tested too. Thankfully, they were found negative and are under home quarantine,” she said.

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Sheenam’s role was to ensure proper collection of samples, sealing them and sending them to the lab for testing. According to her, she ensured she maintained social distancing while coordinating with the suspected cases and the physicians who took samples. She is, however, believed to have contracted the virus while interacting with a Covid-19 patient in the isolation ward of the civil hospital, in the absence of protective gear.

“I had to meet a Covid-19 positive patient who was admitted to the isolation ward of the civil hospital. The patient was a bit disturbed. At that time, I was wearing a mask, gloves, and an apron. We did not have sufficient stock of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). There was an inadequate supply of safety kits. It was a risk and my bad luck that I too got the virus,” she said, adding that the issue of safety kits for the health staff has been resolved now.

It was two days after addressing the patient that Sheenam started showing symptoms such as fever and diarrhea. She thought it was due to the food she had eaten at a meeting some time back. “Knowing the symptoms of Covid-19, I consulted another doctor who asked me to get tested for coronavirus,” she said.

On March 19, Sheenam gave her samples and on the night of March 20, the test result declared her Covid-19 positive.

She says she shifted to a different room of the house the moment she got to know of the result. Her husband changed the bed sheet, wiped the floor and took every precautionary step, keeping in mind the safety of their infant son.

“The next morning, I left for the hospital to get admitted in the isolation ward,” she said. Meanwhile, the health department took samples of the 12-15 staff members who had worked with her, all of whom tested negative.

For Sheenam and her husband, a bigger challenge – taking care of the baby who was still breastfeeding – awaited. Most of Sheenam’s time was spent talking to her husband who was single-handedly taking care of the toddler.

“For my husband, it was difficult to understand why the baby was cranky. During the video calls with him, I told him how to prepare the baby food, prepared a daily routine as to when the baby had to be fed and his sleeping hours,” said Sheenam, praising her husband for doing a commendable job during his home quarantine.

Her neighbours too stood for support by providing her husband with meals every day. “My husband does not know how to cook. So, my neighbours used to provide meals,” she said.

However, the attitude of many in her locality was discouraging, too. “Society people were writing to our neighbours asking them not to help us lest they contract the virus. People started harassing my husband who was under home quarantine,” she said. The family had to call the police to counsel people in the society after facing ill-treatment.

“It is surprising to see that these people, who were once negative, are appreciating us now that I am discharged from the hospital. I don’t know how honest their reactions are,” said Dr Sheenam, who was discharged on Wednesday and is under 14-day home quarantine before she takes over the charge of the lab again.