The family confined themselves to their house since the first lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2020,
The family confined themselves to their house since the first lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2020,

Three Andhra women didn’t step out of their house for 15 months fearing COVID-19

Police and health workers have shifted the women to a local government hospital.

Three women of a family in Kadali village in Andhra Pradesh's East Godavari district had reportedly self-isolated within their house continuously for 15 months since the onset of the pandemic in the state to avoid exposing themselves to the coronavirus. Ruthamma (45) and her daughters, Kanthamani (30) and Rani (32), confined themselves to their house since the first lockdown was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2020, a police official told IANS. Local police and health workers have shifted the women to a hospital, where doctors reportedly found that they had vitamin deficiencies due to lack of exposure to sunlight, and were also suffering from depression.

While Ruthamma’s husband John Benny (50) and son Chinababu (29) have been stepping out for work occasionally, the three women had remained confined to their house, Kadali village sarpanch Choppala Gunanadh told the media. He claimed that so far, when ASHA workers and village volunteers visited for door-to-door surveys, they did not receive any response from the house and therefore assumed noone was home. News of the extended self-isolation came to light when a village volunteer visited their home to inform them about the government housing scheme, of which the family was a beneficiary, according to the sarpanch. “When the volunteer asked them to give their thumb impression, the women said they might die if they came out. That’s how we found out about this,” the sarpanch claimed.

According to reports, in March 2020, a woman who died in front of Ruthamma’s hut was believed to have succumbed to COVID-19. Purportedly afraid of contracting the dangerous virus, the three women decided to completely isolate themselves. "The three women feared that if they contracted COVID-19, they could not afford treatment in the hospital as they were poor. So they thought it is better not to come out and stay in the home itself," a police official told IANS.

With the intervention of Razole police and health workers, the women, who were found to be in a poor state of health, were reportedly counselled and moved to the Razole government hospital, where they are now in a stable condition according to IANS. According to The Print, a statement from the hospital authorities said the women had a deficiency of B Vitamins and Vitamin D (as they were not exposed to sunlight for several months). Doctors also found that the women had low haemoglobin levels, and were psychologically depressed. They were also reportedly malnourished as they hadn’t been eating well.

(With IANS Inputs)

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