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HT Salutes: The worry of coming home to a joint family
She is a postgraduate student in the gynaecology department of Safdarjung hospital, one of the busiest departments across hospitals in Delhi. Around 50 of her colleagues have so far tested positive for Covid-19.
Dr Srishti Prakash worries constantly about returning home after work. She is a postgraduate student in the gynaecology department of Safdarjung hospital, one of the busiest departments across hospitals in Delhi. Around 50 of her colleagues have so far tested positive for Covid-19.
She lives in a joint family with 12 others in a three-storey Ghaziabad house. The family includes her elderly grandmother, who has diabetes, and grandfather, who had prostate cancer. The elderly, and those with co-morbid conditions like diabetes, hypertension, kidney and heart disease are at an increased risk of developing severe Covid-19 symptoms.
“When I am at work, it is like any other day. We have to maintain social distance, wear masks, gloves and gowns properly. My only fear is carrying the infection home with me,” Dr Prakash said. Her last round of Covid-19 duty in the super-speciality block — where Covid-positive women deliver — was in March, and her next is likely to come soon.
“The hospital arranges accommodation for those on Covid-19 duty, so I do not have to go home till I am sure I do not have the infection. But when I work in the other wards, there is a persistent worry, because most Covid-19 patients generally are now asymptomatic,” she said.
Every day, before leaving hospital, she cleans her cellphone, pens, and anything in her bag that might have been exposed, with cotton and sanitiser. When she gets home, she first takes a bath and washes the clothes she wore to work.
“Everyone is staying home right now, and it scares me that I might be the one to bring the infection home. So, whenever I feel like I might have been exposed to someone with the infection, I stay back in the hostel along with some of my friends,” Dr Prakash said.
