The maximum city with the maximum number of Covid-19 cases is now running out of beds. In many instances, patients had to wait for days to get a bed after testing positive for coronavirus in Mumbai, including healthcare staff as well.

But many families in Mumbai are opting to get treated at home instead of going to hospitals which are already overwhelmed. Several families with kids and aged parents in Sahitya Sahawas in Mumbai’s Bandra East area have recovered from the virus at home.

India Today TV met one such family living in Bandra East. Sunil Harshe and Uma Harshe, both in their late 40s tested positive for Covid-19 on May 16. Uma was the first family member out of 6 who started developing symptoms for the virus on May 13.

Later, her mother-in-law, who is 72 years old and is diabetic, also developed fever. The family decided to test all the members including two 3-year-old kids and a 74-year-old diabetic father. Test results of all 6 family members came positive.

After testing positive, they checked with a nearby hospital and found out that beds were not available that time. That is when the family decided to cure themselves at home and not look for beds in hospitals.

Speaking to India Today, Uma said, “I could not have imagined that my fever was due to Covid-19. I thought that it’s common flu. But after my mother-in-law developed fever, we did not wait for another second to get ourselves tested. My biggest worry was for my in-laws as they had co-morbidities and my kids as they are very young.”

“Our simple mantra was not to panic and keep calm. After we decided to treat ourselves at home, I shifted my kids with a family which tested positive for Covid-19 but was asymptomatic, as I did not want my kids to get the fever from us. After shifting our kids out, four of us started maintaining social distancing even inside our house. We live in a 3 BHK, so we divided the rooms and even the toilets.”

Sunil told India Today, “There was absolutely no prejudice in our society. Neighbours helped us a lot and looked after our meals. Our family doctor advised us over the phone. We bought oxygen meters and regularly kept checking our oxygen levels. Doctor gave us HCQ tablets and paracetamols for fever. We dedicatedly followed the medication protocol at home. Something we never missed taking is hot water steam and hot liquids which includes water, tea, and ayurvedic tonics etc. The steam took out the cough and gradually our fever came down. Even at home, we wore masks all the time and strictly stayed at home and did not meet anyone for at least 28 days.”

“We are not the only family which has recovered from coronavirus at home. Five other families in our apartment treated themselves at home and got cured. We still have no idea as to where did we contract the infection from but after it hit us, not putting more pressure on overwhelmed hospitals and getting treated at home was the best decision ever,” Sunil added.