YESTERDAY was a special day for Ranga Nathan. Not many people would know him, or about him. His story is special though for many reasons.
He was finally released from the Lautoka Hospital after having spent 84 days in isolation as a COVID-19 patient.
He holds the record for being the patient with the longest stint in isolation at the special COVID-19 facility in Lautoka. Mr Nathan was diagnosed when he returned from India with his wife on July 22.
He said he was tested daily for three months.
“My wife was been with me all the time and she didn’t have COVID, but she stayed with me,” he shared yesterday.
For the couple, it was a story of commitment, and a willingness to be there despite the threat of COVID-19.
“She signed a voluntary letter to state she would stay with me until my discharge,” Mr Nathan said.
He was elated when two back-to-back tests yesterday returned negative.
“These have been the longest 96 days of my life.” Mr Nathan accompanied his wife to India for medical treatment in March and they got stuck in Chennai after international borders started to close due to the pandemic. The couple had been away from home for eight months.
Yesterday Mr Nathan was over the moon. He wanted to hug his father and his children as soon as he reached home.
“I am so grateful for this day,” he said. He thanked the doctors and nurses at the COVID-19 ward in Lautoka for looking after him.
“You have to be strong when you are admitted and I must say the nurses and doctors were like family to us. There is no cure for COVID now so the best way to overcome it is to keep your spirits high.”
He offers well-meaning advice. His story gives us an insight into the workings of the system that is designed to safeguard us all.
We are in containment mode right now as a nation.
To keep the status quo means we all must play our part. This is important. In saying that, we acknowledge the men and women working behind the scenes to keep us safe.
Our frontliners, from our border facilities to containment and quarantine rooms, and hospitals, are under pressure to ensure there are no loopholes in our system.
This is not work for the faint-hearted.
Mr Nathan’s story gives us a glimpse of the effort put in by these men and women.
Aside from being our frontliners and as a sort of safety mechanism, they keep spirits up, and are expected to strictly adhere to safety measures, to keep themselves as well as their family safe from the virus. They are brave, putting their lives on the line, taking risks daily.
COVID-19 is no joke. Mr Nathan is testimony of the fact that it can sap the energy and test the patience of patients over a very long period of time.
So let’s adhere to social distancing rules every day! Let’s be vigilant, and proactive. Let’s stay on course Fiji.
