Coronavirus | Stress, fear and the healing touch in Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor

Early detection, strict home isolation key to fight pandemic, says official

After some Class X students tested COVID-19 positive on April 29, Ravi Kumar (41), a biology teacher at the municipal high school at Nagari was gripped with fear. Mr. Kumar, who has a physical challenge from polio, had travelled 20 km from home to the school several days last month. The fact that three of his colleagues had succumbed to COVID had whipped up his worst fears. When he too tested positive, Mr. Kumar said, “I thought my days were numbered. I wept like a child. My wife and children were shaken.” In the next two days, all the family members tested positive. But timely help came from the field staff at a primary health centre.