Covid-19 memories remain fresh for first patient's family even after a year

Kerala would be the state to have the first Covid-19 case in India as well as the last one, sources point out

Even a year after the first Covid-19 case in the country was reported in Kerala, memories still remain fresh for the family of the 20-year-old woman who indeed was quite calm in dealing with the disease despite being the first infected person in the country.

The woman hailing from Kodungalloor in Thrissur district, as well as her family, regret that she could not resume regular classes at Wuhan in China where she had been pursuing medicine.

The woman's mother, Naseema, told DH over the phone that her daughter did not have any sort of health issues after she recovered from Covid-19.

Since the woman is now fully engaged in online studies and examinations approaching the family preferred not to disturb her and hence she is now staying away from home fully focused on her studies, said the mother.

Naseema said that all members of the family were really scared when her daughter tested positive for Covid-19 on January 30 last year. But being a medical student she was quite aware that it may not cause much health issues and hence she kept cheering the family members through constant phone calls.

The family is also grateful to state health authorities for the proper care, both medical and mental, to the woman as she had to stay isolated for about one month. Even state Health Minister K K Shailaja rang her up and mentally supported her.

The Covid-19 survivor, who is now a fourth-year medical student at Wuhan, engaged in online studies even during her isolation days at the hospital.

All the initial three Covid-19 cases in the country were students from Kerala who returned from Wuhan. Though the rate of increase of Covid-19 patients in Kerala was comparatively low in the initial stages, the state started witnessing a spike following the return of citizens from other states and countries. Now, Kerala continues to top the tally in terms of daily fresh cases as well as the total persons under treatment. Hence, Kerala would be the state to have the first Covid-19 case in India as well as the last one, sources in the health sector point out.