Chitradurga: Three centenarians in Karnataka’s Chitradurga district are providing hope amid the pandemic after not just recovering from Covid-19 but also doing so in relatively quick time.
The three great grandmothers are all back home and leading normal lives.
Among them is Chithiramma, 105, for whom it took all of just three days to test negative. She had tested positive on 28 September and while she had to be hospitalised, her condition did not deteriorate. By 1 October, she was back home.
Sitting at her home in Chitradurga, Chithiramma is now perplexed by all the media attention she has been getting.
Speaking to ThePrint, this great-grandmother of six had advice for all. “Eat well, exercise and keep yourselves sanitised,” said Chithiramma, who walks briskly around the house and even loves to cook.
“I am fine and healthy, which is why even at this age I was able to recover quickly,” said the 105-year-old who has no comorbidities.
Her son, R. Basavaraj, who also tested positive along with his wife, said the only trouble his mother faced in hospital was regarding food.
“We were given good food and medications on time,” Basavraj said. “Since my mother is quite old, she was unable to chew the food. But somehow she managed to eat some of the meals they gave.”
Much like Chithiramma, 110-year-old Siddamma also has no comorbidities. She was the primary contact of a local police officer and tested positive on 28 July.
“She was asymptomatic when she was admitted,” said Chitradurga district health officer C.S. Phalaksha. “She was admitted to the district hospital as at her age they need constant monitoring. With no diabetes or hypertension, she recovered quickly and was discharged within five days.”
Siddamma told ThePrint, “I spent two weeks in my room. I had to eat well, my family said. Now I have six tablets to eat in the morning and six in the night. They are a meal in themselves.”
When asked whether she was worried by the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, Siddamma said she was never afraid of anything and that this is just another battle she has won in her life.
The centenarian, who lives at the police quarters in Chitradurga, has five children, 17 grandchildren and 22 great-grandchildren.
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‘Secret is ragi mudde’
Of the three women, 100-year-old Govindamma is the only one with co-morbidities. She has been taking medication for blood pressure and border-level diabetes.
According to district health department officials, she tested positive along with her son, daughter-in-law and grandson on 25 June. They were all discharged on 6 July.
“My mother has great will power and she kept telling us that it’s just another infection and there is nothing to worry about,” her son Govardhan told ThePrint over the phone. “We derived strength from her and that is how we are all well today.”
Govardhan said the secret to his mother’s good health has been ragi mudde (finger millet balls) and ragi rotis. “She does not eat any junk food, but enjoys bread once in a while,” he said. “A strict diet and a smile on her face has kept her healthy all these years.”
H. Basavaraju, Chitradurga’s district surgeon, told ThePrint that the three women provide hope for patients and encouragement for health workers. “It is a record in itself to see them recover faster than the younger generation,” he said.
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