Five people from Ranni of Pathanamthitta, who have now recovered from COVID-19, were given a warm send-off by the staff of the hospital that they were discharged from on Monday. All the five patients belonged to one family and three among them had come to India from Italy.
They had been undergoing treatment for the past 26 days. They have now been directed to remain in home quarantine for the next 14 days. The family was gifted with kits including essential things that they were not able to buy after their return to India. The kit also included supplies like groceries, cereals and vegetables. The hospital staff also gifted them with sweets.
All the hospital’s staff and a few health officers had gathered at the hospital to offer the family a warm send-off. The family, who recovered from the disease were welcomed with applause by the staff.
David (name changed), one of the persons who recovered, told TNM, “We got the best kind of treatment we could have gotten anywhere, the kind that exceeded expectations. Some of the doctors, nurses and medical staff have become like family now."
David's aunt, addressing the send-off function, said, “We don't know how to thank the staff. They took care of us very well. I express my whole-hearted gratitude. On Sunday, our results came back negative. We never thought of returning home, but God has created wonders," she said.
One more person who has recovered said that they were assigned to the best medical team. “We thank Health Minister KK Shailaja, all doctors, nurses and everyone who has been with us. We also got good counselling sessions,” he said.
The family was dropped at their house in a specially arranged ambulance.
The Ranni natives — a 55-year-old man, his 53-year-old wife, their 26-year-old son — had reached Nedumbassery airport on February 29 from Italy. The couple's daughter and son-in-law, who arrived at the airport to pick them, were also infected later. Apart from that their relatives, another couple, a 65-year-old and a 61-year-old, were also infected. Their grandparents, both above 85 years of age, were also tested positive. In total, nine members from the family were tested positive for coronavirus.
Now, all of them have recovered and have tested negative. The five (the three-member family from Italy and their relative couple lived nearby) had been admitted to Pathanamthitta General hospital. The grandparents who have been admitted at Kottayam Medical College, were also tested negative on Monday, but are yet to be discharged from hospital.
The family was earlier criticized by Health Minister for not remaining in home quarantine after returning from Italy. Speaking about it, David said that they were not aware of the seriousness of the situation.
"Although we faced a lot of criticism and cyber-bullying initially, due to our actions which arose out of our ignorance, later people realised this and forgave us. I will be eternally grateful to the Chief Minister and Health Minister KK Shailaja for supporting and caring for us," he said.
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