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The ambulance driver who ferried Italian tourists with coronavirus
New Delhi
New Delhi
When 14 people in a group of 21 Italian tourists tested positive for coronavirus (Covid-19) in early March, Ghanshyaam Jaat was among a group of six ambulance operators who transported them from the testing centre at Dr Ram Manohar Lohia hospital to Medanta-The Medicity in Gurugram.
A driver who took the tourist group around in Rajasthan and Delhi had also developed the disease and is being treated in isolation at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.
One of the many ambulance operators with the Centralised Accident and Trauma Services (CATS), Jaat first heard of the disease two months ago when he was asked to go to the medical office at the Indira Gandhi International airport for a session on “some new virus” .
“The medical officer told us there was a new virus called corona that was infecting many people in China. We were asked to check everyone arriving and ensure they did not spread it here. We were told to be on duty at the airport and if any suspected cases came in, we were to transport them to RML hospital,” Jaat said.
For the first month, there wasn’t much to do. “The government had suspended travel from China, so we did not get any people who needed to be taken to the hospital. Then, one day I got a call asking me to go to Hotel Grand because somebody needed a corona ambulance,” he said.
Jaat recalls carefully putting on the full set of protective gear -- a suit, gloves and a headgear that covered the entire face -- before reaching the hotel to take the group of 21 Italian tourists to a quarantine facility in Chhawla after two of the group tested positive for Covid-19 in Jaipur. He was assigned the group from then on till they were admitted to the Medanta in Gurugram.
“Initially I was scared because it is a new infection. But we are healthcare workers, we cannot stop working because of fear. Besides we had the full protective gear and we did not even need to interact with them much. They could walk on their own and get into the ambulance,” Jaat said. Even now, the team is more cautious while transporting foreigners.
“They have a higher chance of turning positive. From what I have heard from my friends, almost all of the foreigners who get tested have the disease,” he said.
Around the same time, one of his friend went on a call to Mayur Vihar to transport a 45-year-old man to RML hospital. The man was Delhi’s first Covid-19 case. He has now recovered and is under home quarantine.
“My friend and all the other doctors, nurses who came in contact with the man were tested and asked to remain at home away from their families for at least 14 or 15 days,” Jaat said.
Once the first Delhi case tested positive, he had been receiving at least two or three calls a day to transport suspected cases to RML hospital.
“Now, there is an increase in the number of people getting tested here. From no cases in February, now I take two or three calls a day. I am sure there are more calls but I cannot take them because in-between every case, we have to sanitise the ambulance,” he said.
It takes about 2.5 hours for an ambulance to be sanitised with 1% hypochlorite solution, taking it out of rotation for a while.
“After transporting so many people, I am not scared anymore. In people like us, it causes very mild symptoms like fever and cough, but if our dadis (grandmothers)were to get it, they may not survive. It is best to stay away from the older family members now,” Jaat said.
