Ranga and Ramana were good friends. They worked in the same organisation and retired ten years ago. They were currently past seventy. Their apartments were nearby. They spent an hour in the morning for a walk and in the evening from 7 to 9 p.m. for general chit-chat with other senior citizen friends from the colony apartments. They enjoyed their time chit-chatting and discussing world affairs.

Ranga and Ramana had been diabetic and blood pressure patients for the past thirty years. Ramana had heart vein blockage about two years ago, and the heart specialist placed stents in the veins. Ranga uses medication suggested by the physician, and Ramana consults heart and kidney specialists in addition to the physician. They maintain good health with these medications and diet control, including fruits.

Ramana has two daughters and a son. The eldest daughter settled in Australia; the second is in the USA. The son, Rakshith, is in India, working as a software engineer in Hyderabad.

·    COVID-19 and Masks

Coronavirus started in Kerala, India, on January 30, 2020, with three medical students returning from Wuhan, China. In December 2019, the virus spread worldwide from Wuhan's labs in China.

With COVID-19, everyone feared meeting people, even close friends, lest they contract COVID-19. People were to wear face masks when they went out to work, covering their mouths and noses and keeping distance from one another.

Cloth masks were suggested to reduce the spread of infection when someone is coughing, sneezing, or talking.

The triple-layer medical mask protects against infections from others coughing, sneezing and talking.

After returning home from outside, people were advised to clean their hands with sanitizer. Sanitizer bottles were kept at the entrances of shops and houses. They were to clean their hands with sanitizer after coughing and sneezing.

·    Covaxin and Covishield Vaccinations

Ramana and his wife Swathi were taking all precautions during COVID-19. People thought Covaxin was the best protector against COVID-19, but it was in short supply in hospitals. Most hospitals were supplied with the Covishield vaccine. Large queues were at hospitals and other vaccination centres to take the Covishield vaccine dose. One had to register early, at 8 a.m., to get the vaccination. There was limited supply, and people reporting late were asked to come the next day. It was a tiresome affair. Everyone from Ramana's and Ranga's families took Covishield's first dose as a protective measure.

One day, Ramana was coughing, and his body temperature slightly increased. People were having temperature-measuring guns everywhere in the houses and shops, with which one could measure a person's temperature from a distance. 

 Rakshith took Ramana to the hospital. The physician advised him to get tested for the COVID-19 attack so that it would not spread among the housemates. When Rakshith contacted the lab, they said the bookings for that day were packed and booked for testing the next day. The next day, Rakshith took Ramana to the COVID testing lab.

·    COVID Testing

The Covid testing lab is in a secluded place. Ramana was to wait for his turn. He was asked to sit in a raised chair before a glass room with a rectangular hole for testing. The lab technician was in the glass room and could see the patient. She had a COVID-19 protective dress on her body and hand gloves. For Corona testing, the technician inserted long swabs deep into the nostrils one after the other, removed and sent them for final testing. The result would take twenty-four hours.  

 Although Ramana received the Covishield vaccination, he was tested positive. He was advised to stay in home quarantine for a fortnight and supplied with a coronavirus treatment medical kit with instructions to follow at home. The treatment consisted of Antiviral Medications. His friends were informed of his COVID-19 attack and consequent quarantine and advised to be careful.

·    Home Quarantine for Ramana

Ramana lived in a three-bedroom apartment, so the family members decided to provide him with a separate bedroom with an attached toilet so that he would not have to come out for any necessity. He took his dresses and all other requirements to the room. He was provided with plates, cups and tumblers. A table was kept near the door to supply his food, etc. Swathi placed breakfast, lunch,  evening snacks and dinner items like idly, dosa,upma, rice, chapati, and curries on his plate, poured water in his glass tumbler from a height and closed the door for his eating. He was to clean his plate and tumbler first with sanitizer after eating and then with water. He was provided with a television connection in the room so as not to feel lonely. He was taking medication as suggested by doctors. People were afraid of talking on a mobile with COVID-19-affected persons. Hence, there were no phone calls except WhatsApp messages. His cough and temperature subsided with the medication.

After fifteen days, Rakshit took him for a COVID-19 test and was tested negative. He had a clean shave, a hot water head bath, and a neatly ironed dress. He had a good daytime sleep and felt as if he returned from another world and talked to his wife and children.

Since then, Ramana has been attending to his daily morning walking routine, reading newspapers, one in his mother tongue and the other in English, taking an afternoon nap, and meeting friends in the evening. He ate nutritious food: dry fruits, rice with vegetables, and sprouted millet powder mixed in milk. He was not addicted but stopped smoking and alcohol.

·    Second attack of COVID

As Ramana was doing fine, the second wave of COVID-19 attacked most people in India in March 2021. It was more severe than the earlier one. Hospitals found it challenging to manage the patients due to a shortage of vaccines, beds, and ventilators. Despite his precautions, Ramana had the second attack of COVID-19.

The State Government of Telangana declared a ten-day second lockdown phase with timed relaxation from May 31, 2021.

This time, Ramana was admitted to the hospital in the COVID ward. No one except the specified nurses and doctors in protective dresses was permitted into the ward. The doctors prescribed a period of stay of a fortnight but later extended it to twenty-one days. There were deaths every day in large numbers, and the bodies were not handed over to near relations for fear of contracting COVID. There were special teams to bury the dead. The deaths were more in the case of co-morbid patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems.

Ramana was treated for a second attack of COVID-19 and was sent home after 21 days. He was attending to his daily working routine and moving places.

·    Ramana Admitted to Hospital Again

It was in February 2024 that Ramana developed an inconvenience with breathing.

Ramana was admitted to a well-reputed hospital in the city, where the physician, pulmonologist, and heart specialist tested him daily and advised him to take medicines and fluids. His breathing became difficult despite the best efforts of the specialists. His lungs were not cooperating.

·    Mechanical Ventilation for Ramana

The doctors conducted several tests and found that the patient's lungs were affected. The patient developed a cough, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. The doctors said these were due to inflammation of the lungs, and they found fluids in the lungs. He was in ICU and kept on ventilation, and after a day, the doctors removed the fluids from the lungs. Despite this procedure, there was no improvement in his breathing. His breathing continued to deteriorate. Swathi and Rakshith were in the hospital, looking after Ramana.

People believed that, once they underwent treatment for COVID-19, they were safe. People did not know the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the lungs,

There was no advisory on monitoring, managing, and follow-up care to mitigate COVID-19's long-term effects. People consulted healthcare specialists only when there was a problem, and Ramana was no exception.

·    Ranga Visits Ramana in Hospital ICU

Ranga visited Ramana on alternate days during visiting hours in the hospital. The sight of Ramana in the ICU was heart-wrenching. His body had several wires connected to machines and looked frail. He tried to look brave when Ranga was in tears. He turned towards Ranga, extended his hand to Ranga's hand and looked straight into Ranga's eyes, pressed his hand, and signalled that he would be safe. Ranga could sense the lightness of his hand. Earlier, Ramana's was a firm, tight handshake whenever they shook hands. Ranga told Ramana that he would visit the next day morning and took leave of him.

 That night, as his breathing became difficult despite the mechanical ventilation and the best efforts of the specialists, Ramana breathed his last.

The next day morning at about 7.00 a.m., Ranga got information from Rakshith that Ramana was no more, and he slept that night forever. Ranga was the lost person to see him in ICU.

Ranga bowed to the body as a mark of respect to the departed friend and remembered their association all these long years.

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