Jay Chowdhury came home using a walker after spending 47 days in the hospital battling COVID-19. The Calgary father passed out the day he was admitted to hospital in mid-March and has no recollection of his time in a coma.
“I said to the doctor, ‘the nurse was telling me that I am here for 25 days is that true?’ And he said ‘yeah it is true, you slept on day one and you woke up on day 25,'” Chowdhury said.
Chowdhury believes he contracted the novel coronavirus at a prayer meeting in a Calgary home on March 11.
He said his wife and kids also tested positive for the virus, however, his children showed no symptoms, and his wife only experienced mild side-effects.
Now, as the province begins to ease restrictions amid the pandemic, Chowdhury said he worries that people may be letting their guards down.
“I don’t want them to suffer the way I have suffered,” he said.
“People who know what ventilation is, what life support is — it’s a painful journey.”
The Cumming School of Medicine’s head of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases, Dr. Chris Mody, said that while Alberta’s lower case numbers indicate that a slow reopening across the province can be done safely, he added that residents must still ensure they’re following physical distancing protocols.
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“We need to maintain public health measures,” Mody said.
“If we maintain two-metre distancing, wearing a face mask when we can’t maintain distancing and wash our hands, we might be able to open up completely. The risk is when we don’t do that.”
Despite the expanded easing of regulations for places of worship in Alberta, Knox United Church in Calgary doesn’t plan to open for services until August.
Dr. Greg Glatz, a reverend with the church said that’s so the facility can establish firm protocols amid the pandemic.
“It’s coming into the building and seeing someone you know in the foyer and resisting the temptation to hug somebody you haven’t seen for months or shake hands,” Glatz said.
“All of that is what we are going to spend the summer working out in terms of protocols.”
Chowdhury and his family have all recovered. He said that while he supports the province easing up on restrictions, he hopes the provincial relaunch strategy doesn’t lead to more trauma like he experienced with the virus.
“It’s trial and error so we are giving a try,” he said.
“We are trying our best to see where we go. If it works, wonderful. If it doesn’t work we need to roll back and then keep moving from ground zero and upwards.”
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