Odisha: 91-year-old defeats coronavirus at SUM Covid Hospital

Bhubaneswar, Sep 21: Amidst the gloom of the Covid-19 pandemic, a 91-year-old senior citizen has brought cheers to the medical fraternity by defeating the deadly virus at the SUM Covid Hospital here. Dhirendranath Das, a former senior official with the Press Information Bureau and All India Radio, was admitted into the hospital on September 5 after being infected by the virus. As his condition caused concern, he was put in the ICU. He was suffering from age- related ailments. But the doctors, nurses and paramedics treated him with utmost care to bring him around. Das had steel plates in his legs and developed breathing problem after being infected. A team of doctors comprising Dr. Pradipta Kumar Patra, Dr. Santosh Singh, Dr. Asish Malla and Dr. Arun Rath treated the patient.Even PPE clad nurses fed him with care as he was unable to eat. "My father told us he would defeat the virus when he was being taken to the hospital. His wish has materialised because of the relentless efforts of the doctors and nurses of this hospital," his daughter Debadatta Das said. Das himself expressed his gratefulness to the doctors, nurses and other staff of the SUM Covid Hospital for their dedication. Subhankar Das, his son, also tweeted thanking the Covid warriors in the hospital and SOA Founder President Prof. Manojranjan Nayak for the dedicated effort of the hospital staff to ensure his father's recovery. He also praised Chief Ministe Naveen Patnaik for the manner in which the battle against the pandemic was being fought in the state. SOA has been aiding the state government in running four dedicated Covid Hospitals in the state having more than 1400 beds and two Covid Care Centres having 800 beds. Both the centre and state government have been extending the required support to fight this battle.