My Le Affaire with covid - Part 3
Covid the most talked about name in the globe right now isnt. When it first started in January February seeing the videos of people in China falling dead (I don't know whether the those videos were really true or not) all of us were severely hit by Fear psychosis.
But today TV channels shout about the New High in number of cases which is getting broken the next day. But mind you number of recoveries is also increasing. However, I feel we are now loosing our seriousness about this. Unless and otherwise somebody in your family or your friends or someone in your neighborhood test positive. then the fear return back for sometime but is gone immediately. All of us are itching to go out whether it is for our livelihood or work or just a small outing.
This narrative is going to have the
- DOs
- DONTs
- home quarantine process when someone test covid positive
- narrative of a care giver from his personal experience of tending to a covid positive person
DOs
- Wear a proper mask while going out
- Frequently disinfect your hands
- Social distancing is NON NEGOTIABLE
- They say applying coconut oil in the nose prevents the germs from sticking into the nostrils( I used the technique of applying Castor oil when we went to Mt Kailash and helped me in easier breathing up in high altitude)
- Coming back home from outside even if it was an outing to local vegetable shop, Keep all the things you took with you in a place near the door for sometime before taking it inside the house. Disinfect whatever can be disinfected including packages or letter delivered . For vegetables and fruits wash it with turmeric and salt dissolved water before taking it to the fridge or consumption.
- Keep your purse, watch and other items in a designated place and disfect them upon arrival into the house.
- Straight away go to the bathroom and remove all the clothes and if possible have a bath if not wash the hands legs and face with soap water
- Gargle with salt water immediately on arrival from outside and if possible clean the nose with a ink filler dribbling the water out.
- The above 3 instructions are a MUST for your personal safety as the virus has to be prevented from entering your body through your nose and mouth
- Take the necessary immune boosters as much as is possible
- increase the intake of gooseberry
- Use turmeric, ginger and pepper more
- Do not drink anything cold
- Take warm water as much as is possible
- If you have any symptoms like cold, cough, body ache, headache, loss of smell, loss of taste accompanied with fever - immediately consult your doctor.
- Try to get the test done as early as possible
- till the result comes try to isolate yourself from the family
- If there is someone who has tested covid positive in your family and are living in the same house BE STRICT ABOUT QUARANTINE of the individual from the rest of the family members
- If you are living in an apartment complex or living in row houses inform them that there is a positive case in your house
DONTS
- DONOT go out when there is a covid positive person in your house for a minimum of 14 days or atleast 4 days from the time of NO SYMPTOMS post covid.
- DONT go out without wearing a mask
- Dont keep adjusting your mask often
- Dont receive any parcels or packages by hand as far as possible. ask them to keep it down. Disinfect them before picking it up.
- do not open the door without wearing a mask.
Home Quarantine Process
- Choose a room with a attached bathroom and good aeration. It must have windows as you cannot use A/C
- Keep the door closed always
- The food medicines have to be kept near the door by the inmates in the house. While they are coming to deliver things they need to wear the mask necessarily
- Once the articles are kept outside the room wait for a few minutes for the person to move away from the door.
- Wear the mask while taking things kept outside the door and be extremely quick about picking up the things
- While returning back the utensils thorough wash them with soap water. Allow the water to be drained completely and preferably put them in a tub or bucket and keep them outside your door
- The inmates should wear the gloves to pick up things that are kept by you. The utensils that they take away after your usage should be put in hot water and let it remain for a minimum of 2-3 hours
- Clothes should be soaked by the patient in soap and kept outside. Let the people collect it after 2-3 hours and then wash it with hot water.
- Anything that was touched by the covid patient should be disinfected and gloves should be used while handling them.
- The care givers if present in the close vicinity should also be quarantined like the patient and all the above precautions should be followed with them too.
- The garbage from the room of the patient should be kept in the disposable garbage bag tied tightly by the patient for disposal
- While collecting the garbage bag first disinfect the bag and remove the bag only when you are wearing gloves.
- While government recommend only 14 days as quarantine, if possible be in quarantine atleast for 21 days or 4-5 days from the "no symptoms phase" which ever is later. This is primarily for the safety of the other members
- Post quarentine, for next one week should be Mask Wear for all the inmates necessarily.
Care Giver Narrative
While Sarada shared her experience as
Covid Patient inside Quarantine, We - meaning Me Ramani (Sarada’s
Husband) Ramya & Sowmya ( Daughters )would like to share our experiences
which may be useful for the Family Members who are caring Covid Patients at
home quarantine.
First Step:
When She was diagnosed Positive she has to be taken to Medall for CT Scan
as advised by Doctor.
Who will take her ? Can we call Driver ?
We decided not to call Driver to avoid him
getting in direct contact. Though I was in the High risk category being 64 years with diabetics I decided to take her wearing the Mask to
Medall. Sowmya , fortunately being a Doctor came with fully equipped PPE and
picked her from MEDALL to Capstone Fever Clinic Nungambakkam and brought her
back for necessary Home Quarantine. She also made immediate arrangements for Masks, Gloves, and other disposable Items etc. She also took us through how to do take care of us
Next Steps:
Here started all new preventive & protective measures to be
followed - completely a new Experience for all of us - associated
with Confusion & Tension.
Communication
We had to totally depend on Whatsapp & phone Calls. But the irony is we need
to wait for her response for msgs sent. We were not sure of when she was sleeping or not seeing phone feeling tired....... We cannot knock the
door as we did not want touch the door.
Worry & Tension will start for us that too in those times where she had
gone through those fever times .
Nevertheless we should be thankful to the Whatsapp which only helped us in real
time tracking her. We are really surprised how she kept her phone fully
charged with her body conditions.
Food
Initially She wanted to stick to her Paleo diet. Though both daughters felt that she has to take some
Carbs. Her exhausting body conditions made her accepting to Carb intake. Ramya
became Covid Dietician and took the opportunity to make her enjoy Rasam Saadham
, Idli , Sambar and made her gain energy.
Ramya also became a Siddha Doctor almost - making Kashyam, Choornam etc at right proportions and give her before & after Food according to dosages. Our Mami at home was a great support for Ramya to make & give all the food and medicines. Whether Food or Medicine or Water We have to place outside the door and inform her .
Handling of Vessels & Clothing
We thought we can use disposable plates and cups to avoid touching crockery & stainless steel plates & tumblers . But we had no other choice other than using regular plates, tumblers, flasks etc as many things were needed to be given hot to her Here Ramya invented cleaning vessels like done in an autoclave. Sarada will put all the vessels after cleaning them thoroughly into a bucket and keep that bucket outside the door. Ramya will take that bucket with N95 Mask & gloves and fill the Bucket with Very Hot Water and keep it untouched for at least 6 hours. In the similar way Sarada will dip the clothes in hot water & keep them immersed for 2 hours and then keep the bucket outside .
We were very very strict about wearing wearing Gloves and N95 Mask to handle any thing coming out of her room. Any item to be given to her will be kept outside the Door and informed over
phone. We were careful in not even touching the door.
Critical Moment:
She had only on one day fever crossing 100F which was the indicator to reach out for external help as per the advice of Dr Madhumitha from Fever clinic. While in a normal situation fever is not a big concern it became an anxious and tense moment for all of us in the family. As she was inside the closed room and we not have access to her as well as how to reach external help was making us more and more anxious.
Other than this situation we did not have
any critical tense situation but a person sick inside a closed room and the
family outside without access to her is a real emotionally affecting situation.
God is Great We crossed this situation successfully and We
are sure more & more sharing of these experiences will make anyone facing covid will be feeling safe & well prepared situationally &
mentally as truly I believe there is no need for a fear when there are no other complications.
Handling Covid
God decides Birth , Sufferings during Life Time and Death. So with GOD what we need is Bhakthi (Faith ) not Fear. With CORONA also We do not need to fear . What we need is to follow all precautions & care. In the olden days when a person had Chicken Pox which is highly contagious, very stringent Quarantine was practiced with utmost Care & preventive steps . Chicken Pox was treated as GOD with absolute faith which made all the people to blindly follow the rules laid down and thus contain the disease from spreading across the streets, villages and towns. I believe if we treat CORONA also as GOD we can definitely contain it.
All this helped us to make sure that we had only one patient in the house and all the rest of us were not infected with the virus
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you Ramani for penning this to be part of my blog as we get the 2 sides of the coin.
I would like to conclude this 3 part series as follows
Covid is here and lets protect ourselves in whatever ways and means it is possible. Government can only do so much but it is our responsibility to take care of our life.
If you get infected with Covid, so be it ensure that you are getting proper medical care, but be open about it and ensure that all your family members are safe by quarantining yourself immediately. Inform your neighbors and so that they can follow all precautions. Dont allow anyone to visit you. YOU SHOULD BE A RESPONSIBLE HUMAN BEING AND ENSURE THAT YOU ARE NOT INFECTING ANYONE ELSE. So take all the necessary actions The joy is NOT giving to anyone, if its Covid.
Come lets overcome covid together
Comments