india

Updated: Apr 05, 2020 16:32 IST

When he was diagnosed with Covid-19 on March 15, the 33-year-old man from Odisha’s Bhubaneswar was a little nervous and demoralised.

The research scholar at University of Milan in Italy got to know he had contracted the coronavirus disease when the Regional Medical Research Laboratory in Bhubaneswar messaged to doctors in Capital Hospital that his swab report had tested positive.

He became Odisha’s first Covid-19 patient that night.

Discharged on April 3 from Capital Hospital, two days after the second Covid-19 patient was released from AIIMS Bhubaneswar, the man sent a video message thanking the doctors for their support.

“I urge people not to panic over the situation and stay positive,” the man wearing a surgical mask is heard saying in the video.

Also read: Odisha asks thousands to self-quarantine as postman tests positive

He has been advised to remain under home quarantine for another 14 days and avoid any cold food. He has also been asked to call doctors if there any health complications during this period.

His father and their cook were kept in an isolation ward of the same hospital for coming in contact with him and released a few days ago as they tested negative.

Confusion and clearance

On March 14, when the man and his father came to the hospital along with their cook over suspected symptoms of Covid-19, he had an upset stomach. They were asked to stay in the isolation ward along with another man, who had arrived from Belgium and showed symptoms of the viral attack.

On the night of March 15 when the man’s first test report arrived, there was some confusion as the result showed his was a suspected case while the report of the other who had travelled to Belgium was positive.

However, soon the confusion was cleared as the second report confirmed that the 33-year-old man had Covid-19 while the other tested negative.

“When I took the youth to his cabin, he was already having loose motions and seemed very nervous. He kept on asking if he will survive. I assured him that he would be alright,” the doctor who attended him said requesting anonymity.

Cocktail of drugsBooks, phone

As there are no prescribed medicines for the coronavirus disease, the doctor at the Capital Hospital consulted his retired teachers and read up international medical journals to get an idea about the drugs.

“So, we administered hydroxychloroquine, Azithromycin and Oseltamivir to the youth. Luckily after a few days, it started showing results,” said the doctor.

“But more than that I took to chatting with him over the phone to lift his morale. That was very important as he was alone in that cabin. If a patient gets demotivated, then his situation may worsen,” he said.

Also read:With 15 new Covid-19 cases, Odisha sees a 3-fold jump; 3 towns shut down completely

The man’s father, who was kept isolated in the same hospital, said he just saw his son across the glass door a few times.

“The hospital authorities would keep his food outside his cabin on a table. He would then take the tray inside and eat. Inside his cabin, he had just his mobile phone to keep him busy for about 20 days,” he said.

He had also books and magazines to keep him busy.

The man would have been discharged a little earlier but his second sample could not be tested due to a surge in cases at the laboratories. So, a third sample was sent a couple of days earlier which came out negative for Covid-19.

The doctor who treated him lived in a servant quarter of his government accommodation and his family stayed several metres away.

Doctors at Capital Hospital said the third Covid-19 patient, a 60-year-old banker who retired last month, was also improving.

“He was suffering from pneumonia which is what Covid-19 does. But we tried the same cocktail of medicines that we tried with the first patient and luckily it worked. He would hopefully be discharged after his reports test negative twice in a span of 24 hours,” said the doctor.