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Coping with quarantine: Sleepless nights for Mumbai’s Shivaji Park residents

Hindustan Times, Mumbai | By
Apr 21, 2020 06:40 PM IST

It began on April 4, when one of the residents of the complex, a 60-year-old man with no travel history, was admitted to PD Hinduja Hospital after three days of dry cough, sore throat and pain in the lungs. He tested positive for Covid-19.

On the third day of his mandatory isolation, Shivaji Park resident Mandar Raut said he couldn’t stop looking at the quarantine stamp on his hand as he tossed and turned in bed, contemplating all possible scenarios if more people in his building tested positive for the Coronavirus.

The local civic body had collected his swab sample earlier that same day, and Raut said: “My heart didn’t stop racing as my mind went through an array of negative possibilities. Every attempt to sleep was nullified as fear gripped my body. The only question I kept asking myself was: Am I positive too?”

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Like Raut, 44 other residents of 15 flats at the four-storey Dinkar apartment complex heaved a sigh of relief when civic officials and police informed them on Sunday that their quarantine was over.

The residents stepped out of their homes after 15 days and entered the society’s common area. They distributed chocolates to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) staff and police for helping them get through this difficult period.

It began on April 4, when one of the residents of the complex, a 60-year-old man with no travel history, was admitted to PD Hinduja Hospital after three days of dry cough, sore throat and pain in the lungs. He tested positive for Covid-19.

“On April 1, he returned from purchasing essentials at the local market and began feeling very drowsy,” the man’s wife said. “Since March 15, every time he stepped out, he would wear a mask and gloves, and regularly sanitised his hands but we still don’t know how he may have been infected.”

Along with the positive patient’s wife and son, Raut and his family, who live next door, tested negative for Covid-19.

Mahesh Arte, another resident, said: “Shocked as they were, the man’s wife and son made it a point to inform society members about his admission to hospital, so we were prepared for what was to come. By the end of the day, every society resident had their hands stamped with the ‘home quarantine’ sign in indelible ink. The society gates were sealed, with a police mobile van parked outside with a flickering blue light to alert passers-by to stay away from the building.”

Their complex was redeveloped in 1984, and has had the same residents since then. “Unlike other housing societies in Mumbai, we are a close-knit unit. However, the looming fear of what might happen over the course of a fortnight led to sleepless nights,” said Raut.

Arte said support from BMC and police, whose officials checked in with the residents almost 10 times a day, helped them pull through.

“From April 7, we appointed one of our residents as the point of contact for essential supplies. BMC provided us medicines, vegetables and daily provisions free of cost throughout the quarantine,” said Arte, adding the residents communicated their requirements through social media platforms.

Ajit Dalvi, yet another resident, said, “Owing to their support (BMC and police), we didn’t feel neglected or abandoned throughout the isolation period.”

BMC officials explained the importance of waste segregation from the positive patient’s home. They used yellow bags and transported waste in a separate vehicle, the patient’s wife said.

“We were confused about the process. However, we got the hang of it within a couple of days when BMC officers ran us through a proper protocol,” she said.

Arte said, “Waste from other residents was collected in black bags, checked for biomedical hazardous waste daily, and sprayed with disinfectants.”

Though their quarantine is over, residents have agreed to follow the same social distancing protocols during the lockdown till May 3.

On Monday, doctors at PD Hinduja Hospital informed the society’s residents the sole Covid-19-positive patient had tested negative. While this was the first of three tests, it brought a glimmer of hope to the residents that life could be normal again.

“These are trying times and may even bring out the worst in us, but we need to remember that while maintaining physical distance, we need to be there for each other,” said Raut.

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