The high fever, mind numbing tiredness and the constant positive mental/emotional enforcement from the medical staff — that is what most COVID-19 survivors, across India, remember of their battle against the virus which first emerged in China and now has infected over 2 lakh persons worldwide and killed over a lakh in under five months.
“We can overcome, that is the spirit with which I fought this virus this past month,’’ says Bengaluru-based professional, Venkat Raghav, 50, who speculates that he may have picked up the virus while on his business trip to the U.S. in March.
Also read: COVID-19 lessons on humility and how it begets health
“I developed high fever and by then the news about the virus was available and the Indian government too was disseminating information. So I decided it was best not to take chances and I isolated myself from the family on my return. Later, at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) it was confirmed that I had high virus load following which I got admitted to the hospital and a day later, I was found COVID-19 positive,’’ he said.
Now cured and at home, Mr. Venkat claims his greatest achievement through it all was that he was able to keep his immediate family – wife and two teenaged children uninfected. “I didn’t cause any pain to anyone,’’ he says.
Recalling his treatment and the support he got from the hospital staff, he says that while the virus takes a heavy toll on the body, mental well-being is the key to fight the disease. “I was in isolation, the f