COVID-19 tales: 'People cursed me, said I deserved to die,' says Kanika Kapoor

First Bollywood Celebrity To Test PositiveKanika Kapoor 42 MumbaiSingerI Landed in Mumbai from London on March 9 2020 There were no checks for COVID19 or any quarantine rules at the airport I think the authorities started the procedures post March 11 I went home and I was fine It was Holi on March 10 when I met a bunch of friends at SoHo House in Juhu It was a normal day On March 11 I flew to Lucknow to see my parents and grandparents We live in a joint familyI was feeling healthy when I landed in Lucknow and once again had to undergo no checks The next day I visited my maternal grandmother and the following day I had to attend the birthday party of a childhood friend Adil Ahmad Here some family friends the UP health minister and a few cabinet ministers were present They are all family friends It was a sort of gettogether in an open garden I didnrsquot throw that party I was one of the many guests thereOn March 16 I experienced a mild fever and sore throat This was followed by bodyache I lost my sense of smell and taste This is the first time I suspected I could have contracted COVID19 I hugged my parents as I had freaked out a little bit I am still a little child for themI called my family friend in Medanta and said I wanted to get tested He said only government hospitals were doing the tests He gave me the number of a medical officer who chatted with me about my condition but never got back about the test On March 20 I tested positive and announced it on social media But the medical officer went and made up his own story that I had landed on March 17 and didnrsquot go through the quarantine procedure They didnrsquot check with me about my travel history I donrsquot know why he made up that storyI got admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences SGPGIMS hospital There I was harassed to no end There are four FIRs filed against me by the UP police under IPC sections 269 negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life 270 malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life and 188 disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant I donrsquot know what for I had given them all my documents They knew of my whereabouts I didnrsquot hide I was the one who made the calls I didnrsquot flout any rules I had no symptoms and I was just with my family There were 300 people who were tested after I made the announcement and not one person from that lot had the infection not even my family membersMy kids in London received death threats people said my career was finished It was traumatic For two months I was in shock We had people gathering outside our home News vans were stationed for almost three weeks My parents were harassed too While I tested positive five times in a row and remained in the hospital for 16 days it was not physical exhaustion that took a toll on me as much as the mental harassment My social media accounts were flooded with vicious messages that said I deserved to die I couldnrsquot see my kids in London for four months because of the lockdown I was asking myself why did I even get testedI think the world needs to be a little compassionate Perhaps I shouldnrsquot have gone to a get together at a time when there was news about the pandemic having arrived in India but honestly at that time no one knew or understood how serious the situation wasI wish to put the past behind me Everything is amazing right now I worked from home during the lockdown I am a very resilient person so I bounced back eventually I am doing music shows once again