Reporter: Ritvick Bhalekar
Script: Ritvick Bhalekar and Tridip K Mandal
Cameraperson: Gautam Sharma
Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan
This is the passion that drives Manjiri Salunkhe every single day. She’s the head nurse of Ward 30 in KG Hospital Mumbai – the first COVID-19 ward in Maharashtra. Almost a year has passed but Manjiri and her team is still battling against the pandemic.
Manjiri Salunkhe with her team.
Even before India could fully comprehend the severity of the pandemic, the COVID warriors of Ward 30 had their first brush with death. On 17 March 2020, the first COVID death took place in Maharashtra. Suddenly, death had hit home.
“We packed the body of the first patient to have died of COVID in a cotton bedsheet. Then we put it inside a disposable bag,” said Kalpesh Vanel, ward boy, Ward 30, KG Hospital.
Kalpesh is the only earning member in his family of six. He has two daughters, wife and old parents at home. And every single day at work, in the COVID ward, is fraught with risks.
Dr. Sahil Moriwala examining a patient.
With increasing numbers and no immediate cure in sight, the biggest challenge for these COVID warriors was to tackle the fear in patients and their relatives.
These professionals were playing the dual role of a health worker and a family member for the patients. But, at times, their own families had to pay the price for their selfless service.
In July, both Manjiri and her husband Milind were diagnosed with COVID. For 27 days, they were hospitalised.
Manijiri and her husband were infected with COVID.
With the resurgence of COVID in Maharashtra, these COVID warriors, who had seen the worst of the pandemic, are worried again. They say the numbers can go up dramatically again unless people are careful.
On 2 February 2021, the Government of India said in the Lok Sabha that, 174 doctors, 116 nurses, and 199 health workers have succumbed to COVID-19 in India.
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