This story is from March 8, 2021

Battled virus & ostracisation, he looks forward to vax now

His landlord asked him to vacate the flat in the middle of the lockdown, shops refused to deliver ration and his RO water supplier stopped coming near his house. Social taboo, isolation, insensitivity — Anugrah Pandey’s battle with the pandemic has been much beyond the medical concerns.
Battled virus & ostracisation, he looks forward to vax now
NOIDA: His landlord asked him to vacate the flat in the middle of the lockdown, shops refused to deliver ration and his RO water supplier stopped coming near his house. Social taboo, isolation, insensitivity — Anugrah Pandey’s battle with the pandemic has been much beyond the medical concerns.
It was exactly a year ago that Pandey had tested positive for Covid — the second patient from the city found to have contracted the infection.
The private firm employee and his wife had just returned from a trip to Indonesia and were tested after arriving in the city. While Pandey was found Covid-positive and sent to an isolation ward, his wife was taken to a quarantine centre.
At a time the entire world had a meek surrender to the infection, the news of Pandey contracting Covid spread like wildfire at his housing society in Sector 41. His house was soon labelled “Corona wala ghar” and few dared to venture near it.
But what was more painful for the couple was the way they were treated after their return from hospital. His landlord threatened him over the phone to vacate the house and even sent his friends over to ask the couple to leave. There was neither food nor water to drink. Pandey and his wife were away for almost a month and by the time they returned from the trip, lockdown had been enforced. The couple hadn’t stocked on ration or groceries.
“The isolation ward at the hospital was much better than the isolation we faced back at home. For more than 15 days, we didn’t have drinking water. We boiled water from the tap and drank it. There was no food, milk, toiletries or other bathroom essentials. We weren’t allowed to go out and no local shop was ready to drop stuff at our doorstep. Even the sanitation workers didn’t pick up garbage for 15 days. All this after I had recovered,” Pandey told TOI.

However, the biggest problem for Pandey and his wife was the constant prodding to vacate the house in the middle of the lockdown. “I had to speak to the district magistrate and seek help. The worst was faced by my wife, who was new to the city and had no friends or family here. I couldn’t help her either for a few days as I was in isolation,” he added.
Pandey had to request the authorities at the quarantine centre to keep his wife there until he recovered and returned home himself.
But the harrowing time also brought along a few lessons for the couple. “The good thing is that we have become stronger. My wife and I can take on almost anything now. Also, we save much more, so that even if there is a job loss, we can survive for a few years. I have seen the pandemic hit many of my friends pretty hard,” Pandey said.
As the next phase of Covid vaccination begins, Pandey and his wife are eagerly waiting to get the jabs. They said they would be the first in the queue the day they are listed for the inoculation. “Getting the vaccine is much better than the ostracisation we faced. We hope our society treats medical conditions better and nobody has to go through what we did,” Pandey added.
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