All’s well that ends well

Tasikul lost his mind after his seven-month pregnant wife tested Covid-19 positive.

As he was informed by BSMMU authorities about his wife Shilpi Ara testing positive on April 23, a day after learning about his own infection, the private car driver decided to leave Dhaka secretly.

The next morning, the couple -- along with their four-and-half-year-old daughter, who tested negative -- left their Kamrangirchar house for their village home in Kushtia.

"My wife thought she was going to die… She suspected she would not get medical support for her pregnancy during the crisis," Tasikul told The Daily star yesterday.

"She kept on crying and did not take any food since she learned of her infection. She insisted me to take her to her village home… I was in a fix and took the wrong decision [of going home]," he said.

Tasikul said what also caused him to take the decision was that they used to live in a small room of a house, and shared a toilet and kitchen with four other families. "It was not possible to maintain isolation," he said.

After an arduous journey by rickshaw and auto-rickshaw till Rajbari, the family was intercepted by local police, thanks to prompt communication by officials from Director General of Health Services and Kamrangirchar Police Station.

They were taken to Kushtia General Hospital. "We were put in the isolation ward. My daughter tested positive a couple of days later," Tasikul said.

After two weeks of treatment, the couple and their daughter tested negative.

They are now in home quarantine after being released from Kushtia General Hospital on May 9.

"My gratitude to Allah that my family is safe now… I am now waiting for the new baby to come," Tasikul said.

He said he is relieved as all his family members have recovered.

At the same time, a new worry has gripped Tasikul, as his wife will soon give birth, and she may need to visit a hospital multiple times at a time when many are being denied treatment and some are being infected while taking treatment at hospital.