GUWAHATI: Sultana Latif, a septuagenarian from Guwahati succumbed to COVID-19 on Sunday, September 20 even after testing negative for the virus.
Sultana Latif complained of mild fever and was then taken to Arya Hospital where the doctors asked her to get tested.
Following this, she was declared COVID-19 infected. "My brother who stays with my mother was negative. My mother never leaves the house. I wonder how she got the virus," said daughter Farzana Latif.
The Latifs are one of the oldest families to have settled in Guwahati in the peripheries of Rabindra Bhawan, Ambari. Their ancestors even worked for the British. The family was under severe stress when the first two reports came positive. However, the third report came negative for Sultana Latif, which made everyone hopeful.
The expectation was short-lived as the oxygen levels dropped continuously. "The doctor told us that even though she tested negative, the oxygen range was not under prescribed norms by the government," said Farzana.
The medical staff had recommended them to wait till Sunday following which she would be discharged on Monday.
Sultana Latif had been diagnosed with a lung condition in 2017. On Sunday, she started having dysentery and her oxygen level further dropped to 20% after which the doctors claimed "that she would collapse soon," said her daughter.
The family then spoke to her for the last time as she was by then tested COVID-19 negative. At 2 AM, she finally succumbed to lung failure.
The family had spent more than Rs 4.7 lakhs over the period of her treatment. "We have paid so much, yet we couldn't save her. I just wonder what will happen to the poor if they get tested with the virus. It has all become a business," said a dejected Farzana.
Sultana Latif's name doesn’t feature in the COVID-19 death list although it triggered her lungs to collapse. G Plus spoke to the treating physician, Doctor Kaushik Deka who said, "She was suffering already from interstitial lung disease and her lungs were weak. But the COVID-19 deteriorated the already damaged lungs".
This resonates with the State Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's remarks earlier that the virus is still deadly even after getting tested negative.
“It has been seen that post COVID symptoms prevail in many patients. Hundreds of people who have been cured of coronavirus and tested negative have showcased worse symptoms thereafter. So, if other deaths indirectly linked to the disease are counted then Assam’s death toll figure will be much higher,” Sarma said.