Telangana: This doctor lived amid Covid infected for 2 years, unscathed

HYDERABAD: Lakhs of Covid-19 patients, some very severe cases, were treated under his watch, yet Gandhi Hospital superintendent Dr Raja Rao is a medical marvel, who has remained uninfected since the pandemic began and even after the widespread Omicron wave. He is the first medical professional in the state to treat Covid-19 patients, interact with them and even touch them.
Dr Rao himself is perplexed by the fact that though he tested himself four times, at different intervals despite not having symptoms, as he had close contact with severe patients, but the results proved him lucky.Even antibody tests to check for asymptomatic infection ruled out any infection.

"At first, we used personal protection equipment (PPEs). Since then, I've been using double masks, taking vitamins, eating eggs daily and non-veg once a week. As a result, I've gained weight," Dr Rao says.

He did not take a day off since the first case was reported in 2020, as did many other Gandhi Hospital medical staff. For him, the whole experience at Gandhi Hospital is surreal.
"I completed MBBS and PG (general medicine) from Gandhi, joined as an assistant professor in the same hospital in 1998 and eventually took over as superintendent in April 2020, exactly a month after the first Covid-19 patient was admitted. Since then, I may have touched nearly 8,000 patients. They would hug me in emotion and pain," he told TOI.
When the first few cases were reported, Gandhi was the only centre treating patients, and the doctors were directly in video conferences with doctors in the United States, he added.
"When I used to tell them I touched patients, they would wonder or warn me about an infection. In fact, it is a puzzle and a wonder to me as well," he explained. Surprisingly, none of his family members was infected, including his wife, son, and daughter till now.
"I lived separately in the same house for a year, used to drive back home alone at night, used to wash my clothes, it was a strange feeling those days, I would pray for traffic on those days during the lockdown," he explained.
The deaths and births during the pandemic have moved all the staff at Gandhi. "However, one death that moved me was that of a bodybuilder from the city, who spent three months in the hospital during the second wave. I would give him courage for days on end, until one day when I went to see him, he was just lying there, and when I touched him, he just fell apart, and I realised he was dead. I couldn't stop crying, but many recovered patients offer me many things with love; one tailor who recovered sent me clothes stitched after he returned home; there are many such accounts; this would not have been possible without our staff," he said.
What was his take after the third wave, when the pandemic's endgame was predicted. "I changed from being an atheist to a believer after my only son, who was admitted to MBBS course in 2017, met with an accident and was in coma for a long time," he confessed.
"Prior to this, I did not have any belief but prayed to every god of every faith at the time. He was back to life after nearly six months of treatment, expect the same with the world to be normal as long as we maintain Covid-19 appropriate behaviour and have faith," he signed off.