The doctor will be kept under observation for another seven days.
Highlights
- The Bengaluru doctor said he has mild body pains, chills, and mild fever
- He was among the first cases of Omicron variant of coronavirus in India
- This is the second time the doctor has tested positive for coronavirus
The 46-year-old Bengaluru doctor who was among the first cases of Omicron in India did not have a high fever, and only experienced mild body pains, chills, and mild fever. The doctor, who wishes to remain anonymous, has tested positive for Covid for the second time. He says he is "perfectly alright now". Narrating his experience with the infection, he says there's "nothing to worry about" as he did not have any major respiratory symptoms, unlike most cases of infection with other variants. He didn't even have a cold or cough, and oxygen saturation remained normal, he told NDTV.
"I isolated myself in a room after showing symptoms, and didn't come in contact with any of my family members," he said. He got tested the next morning, and both RAT and RT-PCR tests were positive for Covid, he added. The doctor had received both doses of the Covishield vaccine.
The doctor said he was home for three days, but rushed to the hospital after experiencing one episode of dizziness. "My Oxygen saturation was 96-97 but I didn't want to take any chances, so I got admitted and got treated with monoclonal antibodies on the same day. This was on November 25, I guess. But after that, I didn't have a single symptom," he said. The doctor had started showing symptoms on November 21 and was found positive the next day.
Genomic sequencing to detect the strain of the virus was done when he had tested positive the first time. Treatment with monoclonal antibodies started on the evening of November 25, and he had no symptoms the next morning, not even mild fever or myalgia (muscle pain), he said.
The doctor's latest RT-PCR test came back positive yesterday. "It usually takes two weeks to test negative after an infection, it may take me another 2-3 days," he said. He will be kept under observation for another seven days and be discharged only after a negative RT-PCR test.
On how he might have contracted the infection, he says he is not aware of coming in contact with anyone who was Covid positive. He was going to the hospital every day for work, and suspects he probably got it from a patient who might have had a travel history.
He says contact tracing was done for his potential contacts. In his hospital, except for two colleagues, everyone has tested negative.