A 24-year-old woman who had tested positive for Covid-19 was discharged from the Infectious Diseases and Beleghata General Hospital, along with two other patients, on Tuesday. All three tested negative two consecutive times within 48 hours.
The 24-year-old, a resident of Habra in North 24-Parganas, had returned from Scotland on March 19 and was taken to the hospital from the airport. The postgraduate student of business administration has been advised to quarantine herself at home for another 14 days and alert the health department if she develops any fresh symptoms of the disease.
The other two discharged during the day were an 18-year-old boy, who tested positive after returning from the UK, and a south Calcutta businessman whose son is also a Covid-19 patient.
The Telegraph spoke to the woman released from the hospital
It was around 11.30 at night when a doctor of the ID hospital told me that I had got it! I had a panic attack! I had read about the large number of deaths caused by the coronavirus in China and Italy and now I had contracted the virus.
From the isolation ward, I was shifted to a cabin. I could not sleep the entire night.
In the morning, several doctors and health department officials visited me in turns. Everyone told me there was nothing to be scared of. “It’s like a normal flu. You are young and healthy and you have immunity. So, nothing will happen to you,” I was told repeatedly. That helped me get over the initial panic.
From that day, every morning, a doctor would come and counsel me. They would tell me that I would get cured and gradually I stopped worrying. Now I know why doctors are like gods.
I had returned from Scotland to Calcutta through Mumbai on March 19. I was feeling feverish after getting down in Mumbai and when I said that to health officials there, they told me I should get myself quarantined at home after returning to Calcutta.
I had taken a paracetamol at the Mumbai airport. So, after landing in Calcutta, when the fever screening was done, I didn’t have high temperature. But I told officials that I had fever and they asked me to go to the Beleghata ID Hospital. I went there in my father’s car.
My father and the driver were sent to a government quarantine facility in New Town. The next night I was told that I had tested positive.
I would spend time in my hospital cabin watching Netflix and making video calls to friends. I would also speak to my parents and relatives. At the hospital, they would take my blood, stool and urine samples every day. A swab sample was collected on Sunday for tests. I was told that if the report was negative, I could go home.
Last night, a doctor texted me that the test was negative. It was around 1am when a nurse told me that I would be discharged today. My neighbours gave me a warm welcome. My mother was also there to receive me. My father is still at the quarantine centre.
I would like to tell everyone, please obey the lockdown directives and quarantine advice. If you violate the lockdown, we may suffer the same fate as China, Italy or the US.