Four years since the first Covid case in Kerala: A health inspector reminisces

Thrissur: Sheeba Benny, who was a health inspector at Koolimuttam PHC, first heard about a rare epidemic in China from her daughter Baima who was a medical student there. Soon after, the state health department issued an order that those coming from abroad should be subject to strict observation and Sheeba began working cautiously.

Even as she recorded the details and travel route of a medical student who returned from Wuhan, she did not have an inkling of the breaking news that would soon shake the country. Her confidence stemmed from the fact that the female medical student did not even have a mild fever. 

Sheeba continued to monitor the student, calling her twice daily. One day the girl complained of a slight sore throat. Even as Sheeba’s body trembled upon hearing this, she assured the girl that everything was going to be fine. When passing on this information to the health department, Sheeba prayed that this would just be  a sore throat.

However, On January 30, 2020, the news that a medical student in Thrissur had tested positive for Covid-19 flashed on news channels and the girl called Sheeba to know if she was the one. If confirmed, she earnestly requested that this information be kept confidential from her family. Sheeba’s own daughter was in China at the time and she shared her motherly affection and care with this girl who spent over a month in the hospital and in quarantine.

As the world moves forward leaving behind the frightening memories of the pandemic, the girl and Baima are busy practicing to become surgeons in China.