COVID survivor's tale: What does it cost for COVID treatment?

From the time that the COVID-19 Novel Corona Virus Pandemic broke out and began gaining intensity, this has been the topic of discussion in all parts of the world! However, irrespective of whether the Virus spread has reduced or not, most people are returning to their normal lives, slowly but surely! Something that has not yet gained the attention of most people is that, there are people who are undergoing treatment at private hospitals too, as almost all the Government hospitals and treatment centres are filled with COVID infected people. How much does it actually cost for treating COVID-19 at private hospitals? Any guesses? 

At Galatta, we care not just about bringing you quality news on Cinema & entertainment but also on some life-touching and relevant human interest stories. Here's the story of a COVID-19 survivor and their ordeals in these tough times...

Ms. Akanshaa is a native of Karur, who now resides in Delhi and works as a tattoo artist. On the night of May 8th, Akanshaa experienced fever and body pain. The fever increased on May 9th morning and by the night it had gone up to 102.6! She immediately called her friend, who rushed her to a nearby private hospital where the doctor she consulted asked her get tested for COVID-19, as she had intermittent fever. Akanshaa had to undergo an RT-PCR swab test, for which she was charged Rs. 4500 along with consultation fees and registration fees. The next day, her results returned positive for COVID and when she tried to meet the earlier doctor she had consulted, she wasn't able to and also, did not receive proper response. 3 hours later, a different doctor turned up and told them that there were no beds available and asked them to go to a different hospital. 

At the second hospital, Akanshaa was asked to undergo a second test and later informed that hospitalisation was only required for serious cases and gave an option for home quarantine, which she accepted. After diligent care by her friend, regular basic medication, healthy food and simple home remedies, Akanshaa eventually recovered completely after about 12 days. She has since given for a COVID test again, on May 24th but is yet to receive the results. Akanshaa stated that some officials came to her house and posted a quarantine sticker after 8 days from her quarantine period and sprayed disinfectant outside her house on a couple of days. They are also said to have given her some disinfectant to use inside the house but that has been all. No attempts at contact tracing were done. 

Akanshaa feels that the quarantine sticker made all her neighbours treat her and her friend like aliens and some vendors also treated them poorly and refused to even collect money from them directly. Her friend has undergone testing on May 17th but is yet to get the test results. Talking about her ordeal, Akanshaa says that even the COVID infection was not as painful as the apathetic treatment given by people. She also strongly advises people to not get hospitalised even if they test positive, unless the situation is very severe. 

The monetary aspect of treatment at private hospitals has not been brought to the public notice and reports state that the treatment costs anywhere between Rs. 5 lakhs to Rs. 12 lakhs, at normal private hospitals. What would be the plight of people who do not have medical insurance and need to be hospitalised? What if all government hospitals and treatment centres are full and do not have any beds? These are questions that the Central & State Governments are yet to answer! How will a common man be able to get treatment, if he is unfortunately affected by the COVID-19 Corona Virus?

We at Galatta Media, salute Akanshaa and all those like her, for their sheer resilience in overcoming the deadly corona virus and becoming proud survivors! At the same time, we request neighbours and other people who come across COVID infected people to show some kindness and humanity towards them! Maintaining social distancing is a must but shunning infected people is not...