‘Don’t hesitate to seek medical aid’

DINESH BASSI, Chairman of the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT), tested positive for Covid-19 on August 4 and recovered on August 21. He experienced a high fever, dry cough and tiredness from August 11 to 13, but fought the disease with courage, finally coming out victorious.

“On August 4, I felt feverish and started coughing after lunch. A few hours before, I had attended some public meetings. We were inaugurating development works in those days. I couldn’t identify the source of my infection. But as soon as I developed symptoms, I quarantined myself in one of the rooms at my residence,” said Bassi.

Next day, Dinesh Bassi and his family members got themselves tested and reports of all male members, his mother and sister came out positive. “Except me, all others were asymptomatic or mild symptoms. For a few days, I only had a mild fever and sore throat. On August 11, I experienced acute pain in throat and my body temperature shot up. Next day, the oxygen level also dipped. It was a panicky situation as we hear bad news related to Covid on a daily basis. But Dr Sehbaaz Singh gave me wise advices me and proper medicine. Home medication also helped my recovery. My mother would prepare ‘joshanda’ with herbal ingredients which helped in a fast recovery of sore throat,” said Bassi. “Gargles and steam helped me a lot and I would advise people suffering from Covid-19 to do this for a fast recovery”, he says.

Though Bassi recovered from disease on August 21, he stayed at home for the next seven days. “I joined my office on August 28. The office work had suffered a lot. Several development works got delayed due to my absence,” he said.

“I feel Covid is a curable disease and people should go for testing as soon as they develop symptom. They should not hesitate to get medical aid. Early detection of the virus helps control its spread. They should also avoid going out to avoid spreading infection,” Bassi said. “The support of family, friends and public helped me in recovery fast. I am thankful to them all,” he signs off.

(As told to Charanjit Singh Teja)