Pune: When Maharashtra joint family of 21 fell ill together to Covid-19

The second wave of Covid19 has been devastating with some families losing multiple people to the virus The scenario could have been just as tragic for Ashok Rohidas Jagtap a farmer from Pune districtThe 21 members of his joint family comprising four generations however overcame the ordeal with love care and timely medical interventionHailing from Mandavgan Farata village in Shirur taluka 100 km from Pune city Ashok tested positive on April 21 As the remaining members of his family include four people aged over 65 the village panchayat decided to conduct a Covid19 test on all of themFollowing Ashok 20 members of the family tested positive with just three spared from the infection The youngest patient included a oneandahalfyearold boy and the oldest a 75yearold manAshok who is a member of the gram panchayat of Mandavgan Farata said his family is big as his father his uncle and their families all live together The 24 members include eight women seven men and nine childrenAs a melonfarmer he was the only member of the family who used to step out of the house during the pandemic in order to sell the familys farm produce He said he would quarantine himself in a separate room to keep the rest of the family safe from the infectionThe 53yearold used to visit the market yard in Pune and came in contact with adatdars brokers other farmers vendors as well as customers During the week before I was tested I had fever and body pain but I ignored it as I thought it may be because of exhaustionWhen the pain increased I visited a family doctor who suggested a Covid19 test On April 21 my report came positive As I was serious my doctor suggested I get admitted to a private hospital he saidAshoks diagnosis left the entire family worried That is when the gram panchayat decided to test everyone Of the 20 other family members who tested positive 15 had mild symptoms and five were admitted to the Covid19 centre in Mandavgan FarataAshok on coming to know that nearly all of his family had been infected was overwhelmed with guilt I felt I would be the only one responsible if any of them succumbed to the virus I could not have forgiven myself if anything had happened to them he saidAll the household and family responsibilities then fell on the three who were not infected Pooja Suraj Jagtap Adika Santosh Jagtap and Akash Bapusaheb Jagtap Pooja and Adika were busy in the kitchen most of the time cooking immunityboosting food for the patients Akash would deliver the food to the Covid centre and hospitalWhen he would get time Akash would go to the fields but he could not finish many of the tasks as the farmworkers hired by the family refused to come to work out of fear of catching the virusAshoks son Suraj Subhash Jagtap 27 said that his wife Pooja and brothers wife Adika looked after the whole family My oneyearold son Aditya lived with us and without his mom for more than 10 days We were all scared at first as negative news was pouring in from outside But our grandfather and grandmother motivated us they never showed any kind of anxiety All the time they would talk to us and tell us that nothing would happen Their positive words inspired all of us he saidKantabai Rohidas Jagtap 70 Ashoks mother said they were scared but did not show it Everyone started to take care of each other Daughters sonsinlaw nephews and other relatives also helped us With the love and support of each other and our relatives we got through the hard times I have seen humanity in this critical situation Now senior members of the family will take the vaccine and others will too she addsAshoks uncle Subhash Mahadev Jagtap 70 said the familys farm suffered losses as workers stayed away from their farm and Akash could not harvest the melons or water the crops alone It is a big loss to the family but at least all of us are together he saidManoj Bhosale a doctor at the Varad Vinayak Hospital Mandavgan Farata said it is important for patients to stay optimistic A doctor tries to save every patient but patients should also believe in themselves This is the thing I saw in the Jagtap familyAs a farming family they had strong immunity But also no one in the family panicked in this critical situation They took care of each other This is when I saw the benefit of a joint family Their love for each other makes them strong Now I always give the example of the Jagtap family to every patient he saidLooking at the prediction of a third wave in India Ashok said the virus is bound to infect everyone eventually The key is not to delay treatment be optimistic and love each other Also get vaccinated We are getting the jab tooAlso Read Government readies two more labs for Covid19 vaccine testingpgtThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever