Survivor's mantra to beat the self-isolation blues

Hyderabad: People in Covid-19 isolation should engage in various activities to keep them happy and calm, says Samyukt Rai, 25-year-old IT professional. He also urged people to take a lot of rest and eat healthy.

Samyukt tested positive for Covid on May 6, he was not sure from where he carried the virus. As his only symptom was wet cough, he found it hard to distinguish it as a symptom of Covid-19 rather than a symptom of common cold. He said, "It took me more than a week as I was scared of testing but now I realized that early identification of the virus is good as it can be cured soon with better treatment."

After testing positive, he immediately went into isolation in his room in Begumpet.

He continued to wear a mask and was asked by the doctors to be in his room for 15 days. During his quarantine period, Samyukt had fever for which doctors prescribed him medicines.

"I drank hot water, gargled hot turmeric water with salt, and took steam two times a day," said Samyukt.

While in isolation, he read, wrote, watched positive movies, and did some work related to his office. He refrained from watching demure movies to keep his morale high. He also talked to a lot of his friends over the phone.

When asked about her experience with isolation Samyukt said, "It took me several days to get habituated to living in four walls, but I somehow figured out how to make use of time and what all activities can be done to keep myself joyful."

He further said that he was watching movies, comedy shows, stand up comedies, and other talk shows which helped him a lot to stay away from the trauma and mental stress after testing positive.

Suggesting how people can get some relief even if they are in isolation, Samyukt shared some tips, he said: "While if someone gets positive of my age I would suggest them that to be more strong and think that this is just phase which will pass on soon, you don't have to be in this phase for years, of course, it is temporary."

He says, by watching movies, reading books, try to work if someone can, and mostly decide for yourself think that you have been locked in some room for days and has been asked to do something innovative, maybe this could help to get some relief from the Covid and its effect on the brain, he suggests.

Having survived the deadly Covid-19, Samyukt now advises everyone to stay at home, wear a face mask and maintain at least six feet of social distance.