99-year-old Howrah resident beats Covid, returns home to celebrate a century

KOLKATA: Howrah resident Bhabatarini Samanta, who will turn a centenarian 26 days from now, on Saturday became the oldest in the state to conquer Covid.
Aged 99 years, 11 months and four days, the resilient woman was wheeled out of Howrah’s Sanjiban Hospital – a Covid-designated hospital — much to the delight of doctors and her family members. She tested negative on Friday. Covid has claimed close to 8,700 lives in Bengal.

“Ami bhalo achhi, sobai bhalo theko (I am okay.Everyone stay safe). I am thankful to doctors and nurses for taking such care of me,” the elderly lady said while leaving the hospital on Saturday.
The 99-year-old Bagnan resident had tested positive on November 23. Two other family members — her 77-year-old daughter and 57-year-old grandson — had earlier tested positive and both were treated at the same hospital. So, when the elderly woman had fever, another grandson who was not infected got her samples tested. She was admitted to the hospital in Howarh’s Phuleshwar on November 24.
“Keeping her age in mind, we admitted her to the HDU. Though she did not require other critical care support, she had to be on high flow oxygen support for about seven days. Our medical team had to be extremely careful about her so that she does not get any hospital-acquired infection that could have been fatal at her age,” said Subhasish Mitra, director of Sanjiban Hospital.
The patient was free of Covid symptoms on the first three to four days. Doctors kept weaning her off the oxygen support gradually. Once they were sure that the patient could maintain the required oxygen saturation level on her own, she was taken off the support.
Samanta’s husband passed away in 1986. Since then, she has been living with her only daughter at the latter’s family in Bagnan. She leads an extremely disciplined life and is very conscious about her diet and nutrition.
“My grandmother is a loving and caring woman but very strict. She is a fiercely independent woman and prefers to do her own chores. She is a small eater, careful about what she eats. We are happy to get her back home,” said her grandson who runs a medicine store in Bagnan. Samanta still walks, though with a little difficulty, changes clothes on her won. She does not need any help for things like bathing. She even reprimands the young ones in the family if they try to stop her from doing her own chores.
“I was the first to test positive. Then, my mother fell ill. I was hospitalised for six days while my mother was in hospital care for 14 days. My mother got discharged this Monday,” said the grandson. Apart from the grandson TOI spoke to, Samanta has one more grandson and two granddaughters who are married.
The nonagenarian, according to doctors, suffers from moderate hypertension and hearing impairment which, they said, are common in old age. She has suffered stroke four times in the past, the last one being about 10 years ago. After that, she has not had any major health issues. During her stay in the hospital, she would always obey what the doctors said without throwing any tantrums. She is extremely alert and her mental faculty is absolutely fine, which the medical team found amazing.
Even as testing negative is no more a criterion for discharge, the hospital conducted a Covid test to ensure that she was negative before discharge, considering her age. “There have been a number of patients in their 80s and 90s who have defeated Covid-19. But she is the oldest patient so far in our record,” said a health department official.