Covid victim spends 11 days on tree

Hyderabad 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. 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. A resident of Kothanandikonda village in Adavidevulapally mandal of Nalgonda district, Shiva is an engineering student at college in Hyderabad. As the college was closed due to second wave of Covid-19 a few weeks ago, Shiva had returned home. To help his family, he started working as 'hamali' (porter) at a paddy procurement centre set up by the state government in the village to purchase paddy from farmers.

As he was suffering from fever and had other suspected symptoms of Covid-19, he underwent the test at a primary health centre (PHC) located about five km from his village. He tested positive for Covid on May 4 but 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.

With four members of family sharing a one-room house with a single washroom, Shiva found that home isolation is not possible. With no government-run isolation facility in his village or in surrounding villages, the youth hit upon innovative idea. "I had no other option. I did not want my family members to suffer because of me," said Shiva.

Since he had learnt that Covid-infected people are suffering from low saturation level, he chose the tree for his isolation hoping that this will help him maintain good oxygen levels. He selected a tree in front of his house as the isolation facility. The tree, which is called 'Ganuga' in Telugu (Pongame tree), is also said to have some medicinal properties.