It should be double-edged weapon to fight fear, virus

Visakhapatnam: When Chevveti Jeevan Kumar is exposed to negative news day in and day out, the first thing he did was to turn off the television, discontinue paper subscription and stay away from social media platforms. An advocate by profession who also has political aspirations, Jeevan Kumar says that his anxiety level grew when he was constantly viewing news channels streaming corona virus news.

The advocate had ignored the early signs of Covid-19 when he developed cough for three consecutive days. "Later when I got tested, my infection became worst even though my oxygen level turned out to be normal. Meanwhile, steroids were administered to combat the infection," he says, suggesting people not to ignore the early signs of the virus.

Practicing at Visakhapatnam District Court, Jeevan Kumar says that a number of advocates, his friends and relatives had succumbed to the virus. "With so many deaths around, I used to feel so depressed and anxious most of the time. This affected my oxygen saturation levels," he recalls.

After four days, when the oxygen levels dropped subsequently, the advocate says that his fear for death doubled. "When I approached a corporate hospital, they mentioned that there were no beds available at the moment. Following this, I approached the Government Hospital for Chest and Communicable Diseases. They checked my reports and oxygen levels which by then improved to an extent. The doctors gave me confidence and told me to stop worrying unnecessarily, and continue with the home isolation," he mentions.

From then, his focus was on improving his immune system by consuming fruits and protein-rich meals followed by medication. "Staying away from social media groups and engaging in shows that made me laugh and watching spiritual programmes helped me get back to shape in a week," he explains.

After three-week-long home isolation, Jeevan Kumar went for a complete check-up. "Given the black fungus scare, I also got tested for the infection. I could heave a sigh of relief only after seeing the reports that turned out to be normal. Fear is one factor that affects us to a great extent. Our fight should be to overcome both the fear as well as Covid-19," he adds.