CHENNAI DOCTOR ON COVID-19 DUTY HAS NOT MET FAMILY FOR 5 MONTHS; CELEBRATE SON'S BIRTHDAY WITH AN EMOTIONAL VIDEO!

With rise in the coronavirus cases and deaths, the medical staff and doctors are the ones dealing with the virus first by continuously being in the front line. One such inspiration is Chennai doctor Ramesh Mahalingam, who has not met his family members for almost five months. 

He is a doctor at Omandurar Government Medical College Hospital, who helped set up the 500-bed Covid facility in the hospital.   

As per Times of India (ToI) report, Dr. Ramesh's family could only celebrate his son’s birthday through a video call and wish him. He has also sent his family to his grandparents’ place in Salem. 

“It’s ok. They understand and my son tells his friends that his father is in a battle. We don’t have an option but to continue the fight. Though we miss our families, we want them to be safe first. So we avoid taking any risk,” he said. 

“Thousands of patients come here and we should always be here to help them out and meet the needs of other hospital staff from the administrative side as well,” added Ramesh. 

As per reports, the renowned hospital has so far treated around 15,000 positive patients and have also conducted over 10,000 CT scans. Amid this crisis and growing fear, doctors, nurses, paramedics and lab technicians are working 24/7 to make this possible.

When media contacted Dr. Ramesh, they got to know that for the past five months, he and some of his colleagues have stayed in hotels and government hostels after two weeks’ service during the 14-day quarantine period. 

Meanwhile, Dr K Senthil, President of Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association, stated that these days as cases have come down in Chennai, many doctors have also returned to their native places.

“With short breaks in between, we can sustain till December and hope that we get the vaccine by then or at least cases fall drastically so that fewer healthcare professionals are involved in the treatment process. But if uncertainty continues beyond that, then it is going to be an unimaginable task,” Senthil said.