How Covid-19 patients are spending their Eid in isolation
70-years-old Mohammad Abdul Majid who fought Pakistani soldiers during the Liberal War is fighting an invisible enemy this time. He tested positive for the novel coronavirus just before Eid.
"I'm staying at my home this Eid, but it feels like I'm staying far away. I regularly offer my prayers, but for the first time in my life, I had to miss the Eid prayer," he told The Business Standard.
Abdul Majid spent the day looking out of the small window of the room he's quarantined in. He saw people spending quality time with their family members.
"I never thought that a day like this will come. I'm just calling for the grace of the Almighty so that he helps me and our countrymen," he added.
Nur Mohammad, primary education officer of Mymensingh's Trishal upazila also is spending his Eid in his room.
"I couldn't even touch my children once during Eid," he said. "I was supposed to be busy at this time. But I'm stuck in my room," he added.
"I used to start my day in the kitchen, to prepare meal for my family. I used to cut the meat of the sacrificed animal at this time," house-wife Morium Begum said. She and her husband tested positive for the coronavirus and currently are staying in home quarantine.
"My relatives are calling me on phone and conveying their good wishes. But it's not making me feel good in any way. I never thought that a day like this will come in my life," she lamented.
"You are the first person who asked me how I'm doing during the Eid," Mohammad Kamal said in an emotional voice.
"I'm just praying and calling the name of Allah," he said. Mohammad Kamal, a residence of Mymensingh's Chokaitala was diagnosed with the virus only two days before Eid.
Shahidul Islam, a doctor of Mymensingh Medical College Hospital also contracted the virus while treating patients and is now staying in home quarantine.
"I knew I will eventually test positive for the virus. But never thought that I will test positive the day before Eid," he said while hoping of spending the next Eid with his family.
Covid-19 may have made it difficult for the patients to spend Eid with other family members, but their families are also helping them participate in the celebration.
The family members of Shamsul Huda Mia, a trader in Mymensingh's Uthura bazar, prepared vermicelli (Semai) for him in the morning. He also had lunch with the meat of the sacrificial animal.
