Ex-Covid patient, who was accused of hiding travel history despite immediate action, urges people to not spread rumours

On March 17, 29-year-old Rohit Sharma had to rush back from Oxford in United Kingdom at a notice of a few hours as he was informed by his office that all international

On March 17, 29-year-old Rohit Sharma had to rush back from Oxford in United Kingdom at a notice of a few hours as he was informed by his office that all international flights would be banned from entering India starting March 18 in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Sector 83 resident had no option, but to reschedule his initial plan of flying out on March 19.

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“Even the thought of getting stuck in an unknown country is scary when each day you read about increasing number of Covid-19 cases and deaths,” said Sharma, a finance expert with a multinational company (MNC) who had been working in different cities across UK since January. On March 17, he took the first flight back to India via Dubai. He reached his residence around 6:30am on March 18 with clear symptoms of Covid-19, none of which were even vaguely felt even a day earlier.

“I had no symptoms till the time I was in the UK. It is likely that I contracted the virus while I was at the Dubai or Delhi airport. The moment I landed in Delhi, I left the airport and reached home at 6:30am. I started to shiver and developed a high fever,” said Sharma, who immediately took an OTC drug and contacted the local doctor.

Sadly for Sharma the fever and shivering did not abate for the entire day. His sample was taken on March 20 and the next day he was confirmed positive for Covid-19.

“The moment I was told I was Covid-positive, I felt everything in my life slip out of my hand; my heart started beating faster. My parents, who stay about 3km away from me, were stunned and silent,” he said.

However, the biggest scare was for Sharma’s wife with whom he had spent two days before being hospitalised. Her sample was also taken for Covid-19 testing. “She was alone at home and was immediately put under home quarantine; thankfully, she tested negative. Our neighbours used to drop groceries at the doorstep for her. She handled everything on her own while I was in the hospital,” said Sharma, who confessed that he was very scared when he first saw the isolation ward.

“It became less scary for me when I saw two other patients in the isolation ward. They were siblings and lived in Palam Vihar. Our beds were at 1-2 metres apart. We introduced ourselves and spent time talking about the transmission of coronavirus and symptoms we had experienced. Twice a day, our vitals were checked. None of us showed any severe symptoms so we were allowed to use our phones. There was nothing else to keep myself occupied with so I used to talk to my wife for about four hours a day, checking on her. Never in my life have I seen so many entertainment series,” Sharma said.

RUMOURS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

As Sharma and his wife spent their days cut off from the world, rumour mongering was in overdrive on social media, particularly WhatsApp groups.

“It was disturbing to read rumours about us. People said things like we had hidden our illness, stayed in the society without any check-up for a week and put others in the society at risk. I had to finally write in one of the groups introducing myself and stating that if people have any queries, they should approach me instead of stigmatizing my family and I,” Sharma said, adding that stigmatized was not a solution and urging that people should not spread rumours.

Asked when did he feel scared, if at all. Sharma said it was the day the other two patients were discharged. “That night was scary. I was the only one in the isolation ward. That night I couldn’t sleep. I was in a terrible mental state. The next morning, I contacted the district health officer to enquire about my reports; I was in a hurry to leave. Later in the day, I was told my second confirmation report showed I was negative and I could be discharged,” said Sharma, who was discharged at 5pm on March 30 and has been put under home quarantine for the next 14 days.

Sharma now hopes to see his parents after the home quarantine period ends.