COVID-19 fear: Family locks themselves to tent house for 15 months

A family was rescued by Indian police from a tent house in pathetic conditions where they had confined themselves for almost 15 months in an Andhra Pradesh village due to fear of contracting COVID-19.

An Indian family has locked themselves inside a tent house for 15 months due to fear of COVID-19 after one of their neighbours died of the virus, according to the Indian media. The family members who went into the self-isolation include a 50-year-old Ruthamma, 32-year-old Kanthamani and 30-year-old Rani, said the reports.

It was reported from Andhra Pradesh’s Kadali village where the village elder was informed by the volunteer who went there to get the family’s thumb impression for granting a housing plot for them under a government scheme. However, the family rejected to come out.

The village elder told the local media that the family of Chuttugalla Benny, his wife, and two children, have been residing there and locked themselves in the house for more than one year for being afraid of contracting novel coronavirus.

The elder said that the volunteers used to return from the tent house after getting no response from the residents until they got information about the self-isolated people are in bad condition. The family would have died if they were left unattended for two to three more days, the village head said.

Following the information, the villagers went to the tent house along with a police team and shifted them to a government-run hospital where they are now receiving treatment.

The family members were reportedly rescued in pathetic condition as their hairs were grown without any groom and they did not take baths for many days.