Telangana Man Turns Tree Into ‘Isolation Ward’
18-year-old Shiva built himself an isolation bed on top of a tree using bamboo sticks tied to the branches. Watch the video to learn more.
When a person gets infected with the coronavirus, it is mandatory for the person to be in quarantine and isolate themselves from others. However, this has proven to be very difficult for people in India, as many live in small homes and share bathrooms with family members. Telangana’s Nalgonda district 18-year-old Shiva tested positive for the coronavirus on May 4 and volunteers in the village told him to isolate away from his family. But Shiva’s entire family lives in a small space and there was no way the young man could’ve been able to isolate at home without affecting his family. His village has 350 families but there is no nearest primary health centre. The closest is 5 km away. Villagers also said the nearest hospital is 30 km.
Although an isolation centre was very recently opened up in the district on May 13 but very few have knowledge of the same and thus have to devise their own methods to isolate. Shiva was unable to find an isolation ward for himself. So he came up with a unique plan. Shiva built himself an isolation ward, a bed rather on top of a tree in the area near his house, using bamboo sticks tied to the branches. He has spent 14 days on the tree. This is not the first time Indian has used trees to self isolate. Seven tribal migrant labourers, who returned to their homes in Purulia district in West Bengal from Chennai, tested positive for COVID-19. Since there was no hospital or isolation ward available, they had to quarantine themselves on banyan and two mango trees.
