Social isolation during the pandemic, both self-imposed and due to restrictions imposed by governments, had a great impact on mental health. A mother-daughter duo in Kuyyeru village of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, has been admitted to a government hospital after neighbours found that the two women, who had been isolating themselves since the first lockdown in 2020, stopped taking food.

The mother, aged 43 and her daughter, aged 21, had been self-isolating for the past couple of years due to fear of COVID-19 and rarely ventured out of their home. During the period of isolation K Suribabu, the husband of the 43-year-old woman, used to provide them with food. But last week they stopped accepting it and refused to come out of the house, according to a medical doctor from a local Public Health Centre, who attended to them. The incident was reported to them by Suribabu on Monday.

Both of them were admitted to the Kakinada government hospital on Tuesday and are being treated. Speaking to TNM, Dr Supriya, who works with the local PHC, said Suribabu told them that the physical and mental health of the women had been deteriorating. “When our staff went and tried to speak with them, they tried to cover themselves with bed sheets and were not not talking. Later, with the help of local panchayat officials, they were forcibly taken to a hospital,” said Dr Supriya.

Dr Supriya said, whenever the health workers from PHC visited their house, the women used to talk to them only through windows. Occasionally, they would come out of the house and do any biometrics/thumbprinting, if needed or at midnight to attend nature’s calls. The women had visited the PHC once in  2022 and came wearing masks. In the videos that were shared on social media, the duo were also seen hiding behind the bedsheets and covering their noses and refusing to talk to anyone. “When the health workers tried to convince them not to be fearful, the women complained that they were being trapped by black magic and refused to come out,” she said. 

While the daughter is cooperating with the medical treatment and is being administered saline drips, the mother was quite stubborn initially, said Dr Supriya.