Telangana: An 18-year-old youth in Telangana spent 11 days on a tree after testing positive for Covid-19 as he could not isolate himself in his small home. The boy tested Covid positive on May 4. Fearing that he might infect his parents and sister if he stays in the house, Ramawat Shiva Naik set up his own innovative ‘isolation facility on a tree near the house.
“There was no isolation centre here. Two days ago, they converted the ST hostel into a centre … up until then we had nothing and I don’t know if there are any such centres in other villages … I don’t think so. What else can I do?I don’t know if the village volunteers told the sarpanch about me testing positive. No one in my village came forward to help me. They’re all scared of the virus they’re not stepping out of their homes,” Shiva said.
Shiva is an engineering student at college in Hyderabad. As the college was closed due to the second wave of Covid-19 a few weeks ago, Shiva had returned home. To help his family, he started working as ‘hamali’ (porter). As he was suffering from fever and had other suspected symptoms of Covid-19, he underwent the test at a primary health centre and tested positive. Since he had mild symptoms, a health worker at PHC told him that there is no need for hospitalisation but advised him to isolate at home.
While in isolation, Shiva mostly spends his time on his mobile phone, which he keeps in a tiny basket tied to the tree. His family members send his daily meals to him through a pulley system that Shiva has fashioned using rope and a bucket.
Not just Shiva, many others in the village have been forced to isolate themselves in the same manner. While some are isolating in bathrooms or staying in the fields, others have built makeshift huts using gunny sacks.
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