Needn’t panic if precautions are taken: First coronavirus patient from Vizag

Visakhapatnam has been on high alert ever since the number of coronavirus cases started increasing in the city. A sign of relief in this scenario is the recovery of the first coronavirus patient in Vizag. The 65-year-old resident of Allipuram was admitted to Government Hospital for Chest and Communicable Diseases on 19 March 2020 upon his return from Saudi Arabia. The patient was treated in the hospital’s isolation ward for fourteen days before being discharged.

Recalling his 14-day ordeal, the Allipuram resident spoke to Eenadu and shared about his experience. The patient revealed that he travelled to Saudi Arabia to complete ‘Umrah’ – a 15-day pilgrimage to the Mecca. He flew to Saudi Arabia via Hyderabad and returned home on March 12, 2020. Upon his return, his son – a doctor working in the USA advised him to self-quarantine himself as a precautionary measure. However, with the patient’s symptoms getting obvious, he was soon taken into the isolation ward, making him the first coronavirus patient in Vizag.

The patient stated that he was well taken care of at the hospital. Speaking about the illness itself, he said that people needn’t worry about coronavirus if they are already taking the necessary precautions.

While the senior citizen has been lucky enough to have recovered from the virus, health officials note that this may not be the case with other patients. Hence, doctors, district administration, policemen and GVMC officials are making immense efforts to curb the spreading of the virus. The GVMC officials promptly disinfected Allipuram and other localities surrounding it when the first patient was admitted in March. This has now turned into a full-fledged program carried out by the GVMC staff. Hot-spots have been identified across the city, and are being disinfected thoroughly every day.