For this 28-year-old who lost his father to COVID-19, the trauma continued even after the tragedy as the family searched in vain for an ambulance to take the body to the local crematorium.
The education sector professional, who was also tested positive later but was discharged after subsequent reports came negative, spoke to PTI about the family's ordeal.
"My happy family lost our head all of a sudden earlier this month. Within 48 hours of his death, three of our family members also tested coronavirus positive," he said.
"It was certainly a shock to us which led us to fear this deadly pandemic. We have recovered, but in the last fortnight, we saw this fear in the eyes of everyone who has met us," he said.
After returning from Mumbai, his 58-year-old father, an employee of a leading public sector bank in the financial capital, had isolated himself in a room in the house despite not having any symptoms associated with coronavirus, he said.
"However, he was later admitted to a private hospital here to check higher sugar levels and related complications. The hospital advised us to move him to a COVID-19 designated hospital. He was then shifted to the Government Medical College Hospital," he said.
He died days later, after reports of his swab test confirmed he was coronavirus positive. "After my father's swab was taken, he was worried as he could feel that there was no recovery and that would be my last conversation with him," the man said.
"No ambulance was ready to carry my fathers body to the crematorium. We somehow managed it and when we reached the crematorium, we saw that the person on duty there hadn't made complete arrangements. He guided us in the last rites from a distance as he was too apprehensive," he said.
The man said the family then received call from health officials to get tested at the hospital.
"Our swabs were not taken that day and we were ignored the next day too. We then contacted Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope and all of a sudden the material to take our swabs was made available," he said.
"The day before we gave our swabs made us realise how COVID-19 has terrified people. Neighbours closed their doors after seeing us and hesitated to talk to us. That day we did not have even wheat flour to eat or water to drink," he said.
The man, his wife and his elder brother were tested coronavirus positive in a span of 24 hours. Subsequent reports came out negative, said the man, who along with his wife and brother, was discharged from the hospital on Monday after the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
"People have a lot of misunderstanding about the treatment. I clear these misunderstandings as much as possible when speaking to others on phone," he said.
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