Grateful for life
- Spectator 5.0
- Dec 24, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 25, 2020
Text and research by Nisma Aamir, Sumaira Bashir & Qirat Raza Photography by Nabeel Aalim
Pandemic Diaries: Covid-19 survivors are thankful to be alive
“Mood swings, depression, fear of death, and many sleepless nights. I thankfully survived through it all, and so can others,” says Aliya Raza, an optimistic Covid-19 survivor. “It may seem like the flu, but in reality, it is lethal”.
Aliya faced the symptoms of the pandemic in full force—flu, body pain, shivering, fever, and no taste or smell of the food she ate. “The food seemed pretty bland, the isolation seemed like being caged, and I couldn’t go out for more than 14 days,” she adds. Today, she is thankful to God for healthy food and the wellness of her family.
At a media briefing, WHO's director-general Tedros Adhanom said, “If countries detect, test, treat, isolate, trace, and mobilize their people, those with a handful of cases can prevent those cases becoming clusters, and those clusters becoming community transmission”. Pakistan did end up having clusters and community transmissions, and as winters have approached, so has the second wave of the pandemic.
Zonaira* (surname withheld on her request), a university-student, got the virus when it was riding the first wave. She still complains of feeling lethargic and slacking in her studies after she suffered from the virus. “I took the necessary precautions and kept my things separate from my family. We had one washroom due to which it got really difficult, but I knew I had to keep my family safe, so I sanitized everything whenever I went to the washroom,” says Zonaira, as she describes her and her family’s problems.
In the aftermath, she continues to face challenges like hairfall, fever, weakness, and constant backache. The most severe after effect of the virus is that she cannot walk a lot anymore. “I feel fatigued very soon,” She states. Zonaira is still grateful for a speedy recovery and a safe and healthy family.
“The youth need to stay safe to keep their families safer because this disease targets the elderly individuals, specifically, those who have pre-existing medical conditions,” says Dr Rustam Ali Leghari, the medical officer and advisor at a private University.
According to WHO, people who are aged over 60 years and people with existing medical conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, respiratory disease, or hypertension, are at a higher risk of developing severe or critical illness if infected with the virus.
Faisal Qasim, the CEO of Advanced Lab, opens the laboratory 24/7 for the public and conducts the Covid-19 RT-PCR test in Rs6500 instead of Rs8000. “We care for our people,” he says. Apart from this, he is providing notable concessions for students. “As it is a challenging time for everyone, we need to aid each other,” he shares. People like Faisal are not missing any chance to help people fight the Covid-19 battle.
“Please isolate yourself if you are sick and get yourself tested after 2–3 days of first symptoms,”appeals Faisal. He also shares that they have had cases where one family member was Covid positive, and three days later, his whole family was infected.
A mother of a six-months-old shares her gut-wrenching story. “I felt miserable when I couldn’t touch or even breastfeed my 6-month-old daughter,” says Sundus Iqbal. Sundus visited the doctor as soon as she felt symptomatic. She consulted two doctors and found out that she has tested positive for Covid-19. “I clearly remember that I couldn’t sleep that entire night”. She tears up while telling this story. But she didn’t give up, and regained her health by eating dry fruit, protein and vitamin-enriched foods like green vegetables and chicken soup. “I found the courage to get better, and I’m better now,” she adds. She has a bit of weakness and often has body-aches, but is on the road to recovery.
Heroes like Dr Sohail Ahmed of Ziauddin Hospital are fighting against Covid-19 from the front. He has been putting his life at risk with selfless determination, and the cost was him contracting the virus too. “I might have caught the virus through a patient,” he says, sharing that that he observed the symptoms of Covid-19 in himself by the 10th day—when he was inching towards recovery. He completed his quarantine period of 14 days. “I am thankful to God that I have fully recovered now”.
According to Worldometer, the total number of cases in the world are 77.7 million, the recovered patients are 54.6 million, and the deaths are more than 1.7 million.
In August 2020, the number of confirmed new cases per day in Pakistan had dropped to less than 300, but in September, the cases started to increase again, due to which the National Command and Operation Centre officially announced that the second wave of the virus had arrived in Pakistan. According to Pakistan Government’s official Covid-19 website, Sindh province has had the highest number of confirmed cases at 205,484 followed by Punjab at 132,526.
On 16 December 2020, Pakistan recorded 105 Covid-19 related deaths—the highest since July 2020. The mortality rate among these provinces has left fear in the people’s hearts. But there are people who, by following the correct precautionary measures, are also getting cured.
Provincial Covid-19 cases in Pakistan
Note: The number of cases mentioned above has been taken on 22/12/2020.
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