ANANTAPUR/KADAPA: Amid applause from doctors and paramedics, 18 people who had tested positive for coronavirus, including a 10-year-old boy, were discharged from hospitals in Anantapur, Kadapa and Rajahmundry on Thursday after they recovered. So far, 38 COVID-19 patients have been discharged in the state.
“Testing positive for COVID-19 doesn’t mean it’s the end of life,” said Dr Ravi Shankar, in charge of the anaesthesia and critical care department at KIMS Savera Hospital, as the 10-year-old walked out. “Follow lockdown norms and practise social distancing. This will slow the spread of the virus,” he added, explaining that then, infectees would be able to get proper treatment and recover.
The 10-year-old from Lepakshi in Anantapur district is a close contact of a person who returned from Mecca. Another patient who got discharged is a 36-year-old woman from Hindupur, who had visited Mecca and tested positive for Covid-19 on March 19. She was later shifted to KIMS Savera, the designated COVID-19 hospital. Both patients were sent home in special ambulances.
In Kadapa, of the 36 people who tested positive, 13 recovered and were discharged. Even they were sent back from hospital in special ambulances, and will have to remain in home quarantine for 14 days.Officials gave them Rs 2,000, as promised by the government, along with dry fruits. Collector C Harikiran said the remaining patients would be discharged in a day or two, and added that people who recovered from the disease should not be discriminated against.
Speaking on the occasion, three patients — who had attended the Nizamuddin Markaz — lauded the doctors for their treatment. “The services of the doctors and sanitation staff were exemplary. We were given all amenities like clothes, soap and toothbrushes. We could recover only because of the services rendered by them,” they said, and appealed to the public to report on their own of they have symptoms of Covid-19. In Rajahmundry, three patients recovered and were discharged. Meanwhile, four more people tested positive for coronavirus in the State on Thursday, taking the number of confirmed cases to 534.