11 days after test, constable's sister finds out she has COVID-19

BMC health workers test residents in a chawl in Kurla West. Pic/ Sameer Sayyed Abedi

The 28-year-old sister of a police constable got to know she has COVID-19 11 days after she was tested at a local camp. The civic body refused to give her the test reports saying if she did not get an email or call within two days of the test, she must have tested negative, even after she told of her persistent symptoms.

The woman got to know of having tested positive with the help of a local politician who managed to access the report from the private lab which had tested the woman's swab. The woman lives with her mother and constable brother in Naigaon police quarters and has been admitted to Indira Gandhi Municipal Hospital nearby. The BMC, however, is yet to reach out to her.

"I got tested on May 12 at a camp organised by the local corporator at Richardson & Cruddas ground in Byculla. Five days after the test, I reached out to BMC for my results but they said the lab which did the test will send the results to them and accordingly BMC will inform me. The BMC officer also said that if in two days I do not get intimated by the BMC, it means my result is negative."

"I took help from BJP worker Paresh Boricha and we managed to get my report from the lab on May 23. I had tested positive. I rushed to Indira Gandhi Municipal Hospital. Since doing the test, I met many people and I feel that I unknowingly spread the virus further." The woman had been experiencing a loss of the sense of smell since April 30. As police personnel, her brother was tested but the rest of the family wasn't. "On our building'floor itself, 12 people tested positive. Troubled with my symptoms, I first visited KEM, then JJ and then Nair hospitals every five days. All checked my temperature and gave me a five-day course of medicines. But the symptoms persisted. I have informed everyone I met in the past few weeks to get tested." The woman had also gone to Kasturba hospital, which said it can't admit her. The woman had also taken her mother to the hospitals and she too was given five-day courses of medicines which led to a reaction, which doctors say might affect her kidneys. "I am worried about my mother. Though she tested negative, the medicines given by the hospitals have had negative effects."

mid-day's calls to the local civic health officer went unanswered till the time of going to press.

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