COVID warriors fight disease, disgrace but soldier on

The frontline warriors against COVID 19 - the faceless multitude of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff - fight down ostracism by society and their own demons of loneliness and uncertain future of their families, with the oppressive synthetic shield of PPE forming their last defence against death.

Guwahati (Assam):"Victory is reserved for those who are willing to pay its price," legendary Chinese general and strategist Sun Tzu once famously told his warriors.

Today, a different set of warriors is toiling, day and night, trying to defeat a sneaky, invisible enemy across hospitals, putting at risk almost everything, including their lives.

These frontline warriors against COVID 19 - the faceless multitude of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff - fight down ostracism by society and their own demons of loneliness and uncertain future of their families, with the oppressive synthetic shield of PPE forming their last defence against death.

"You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have," iconic Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley said, and Dr Nayan Jyoti Bez cannot agree more.

Bez, the Registrar of Emergency Medicine at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), is one of the three doctors in-charge of screening COVID-19 suspect cases at the facility.

On May 7, Bez had gone to fetch his wife Jita Baruah, also a doctor, from Tezpur, some 180 km from Guwahati. She was bedridden from excruciating back pain which refused to go away.

The couple had met after two months. But the bad news was trailing Bez closely.

He got to know that a colleague handling COVID-19 patients had tested positive for the virus the day he left Guwahati and another the next day. Bez had come into contact with both.

"I immediately put on a mask and withdrew from her. We ate dinner away from each other and slept in separate rooms. I just cannot forget the worried look on her face and the tears that refused to ebb away," Bez told reporters.

He left for Guwahati the very next morning, leaving behind his wife, and quarantined himself at his hospital. He heaved a huge sigh of relief after his swab sample tested negative.

"I cannot express how I felt when he was leaving. We had met after two months and I could not even hold his hands," said Baruah later. She also screens suspected COVID-19 patients at the hospital she works for in Tezpur.

At his Guwahati home, where Bez lives with his mother, brother and sister-in-law, the doctor has virtually cocooned himself. He lives alone on the first floor and eats from disposable plates.

"My duty starts from 7:30 am and I stay till around 4 pm in the hospital. During this period, I do not drink or eat anything. At times, it is exhausting. But I have to do this," he said, his face deadpan and stoic like a battle-scarred soldier.

Dr Sumanjit S Boro of the Dr B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI) is the master of his house but has made the servant quarters his home since the outbreak.

Boro, the only micro-vascular plastic surgeon in the whole of North-East, is not directly treating COVID-19 patients but has taken the precaution to preclude chances of his family getting infected.

"You never know which cancer patient is infected with the coronavirus. Recently, a 16-year-old girl hospitalised in BBCI was detected with COVID-19 and she died.

"The place where I am staying now is on the backside of our main building. I am living there alone. I have my own utensils, which I clean myself. My sister-in-law brings food for me which she keeps on the table outside my room from where I pick it up," he said.

Boro felt a twinge in the heart when he could not touch the feet of his parents to seek blessings during the Bihu festival in mid-April. His parents blessed him from a safe distance.

His wife Monalisa, also a doctor, is part of the army of COVID-19 warriors in Assam, and for her the battle theatre is the Assam Medical College in Dibrugarh, some 500 km away from their Guwahati home.

Benedict Teron, another doctor on the COVID-19 battlefront--the Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH)- has not informed his family in West Karbi Anglong district that he is treating coronavirus patients.

"My mother has died and my father is old. He stays with my two brothers. I don't want them to worry about me. Maybe I will tell them once the fight is over and we have won," he said. "These are testing times," he said tersely.

After seven days of duty, Teron's entire team gets quarantined for 14 days.

"There are no boundaries for us as doctors, only duty. We as doctors have taken the oath to protect the lives of all irrespective of gender, religion and nationality. We are trying to do just that," he said matter-of-factly.

Teron's colleague at JMCH Dr Anoop R narrated his experience of the 8-hour shift which he spends in the isolation ward with COVID-19 patients while wrapped in personal protective equipment (PPE).

"Once we have worn the PPE, we virtually cut ourselves off from the outer world. We cannot drink, eat or even use the washroom. It is an air-tight clothing that makes us sweat heavily. At the end of the shift, we come out as if we had a steam bath, exhausted and dehydrated," he said.

Anoop, from Kozhikode in Kerala, is all praise for the district authorities who have made arrangements for accomodating all medical staff who come into direct contact with COVID-19 patients. "They take good care of us," he said.

"I have not seen my parents for the last six months. They are alone in Kerala as my brother is in Canada now. They are worried for me but also proud that I am trying to save lives," he added.

Dr Partha Pratim Medhi has to try hard to quell his wistful longing to cuddle his eight-month-old daughter.

A patient died of COVID-19 in his hospital last week and he now lives alone on the first floor of his house. He feels an occasional lump in the throat and his heart skips a beat when he sees his daughter peacefully asleep in her mother's arms from a distance.

Medhi said lower grade staff of the hospital faced ostracism after the patient died. The locals did not want them in the neighbourhood despite testing negative for the disease.

"Such episodes tend to break our heart and dip our morale. But the fight is on," said Medhi.

As the fight gets tough, the Medhis, the Terons, the Boros and Bezes of the world are getting tougher, as they battle not only the disease but also the disgrace some attach to it.

PTI Report