Elderly woman becomes oldest in Karnataka to beat COVID-19

Offering a ray of hope to all those battling the deadly coronavirus, a woman here has successfully recovered from the disease at the ripe old age of 99, leaving the medical fraternity and her family elated.

Marceline Saldanha had contracted the pathogen after coming in contact with her grandson and was hospitalised on her 99th birthday on June 18.

The woman was taken to the Government Victoria Hospital along with her 70-year-old son Vincent, daughter-in-law Rita and grandson Vijay.

Nine days later, the nonagenarian walked out of the hospital with her grandson on Friday after her results came out negative, becoming the oldest in the state to beat the disease.

"While we three developed symptoms like cold, cough and fever, my mother remained asymptomatic," Vincent, the woman's son, told PTI.

The family members are still wondering how they got infected by the virus as all except the woman's grandson, were confined to their Kumaraswamy layout residence most of the time.

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Her 29-year-old grandson was the only one who ventured out to purchase groceries.

Initially, the family approached a private hospital nearby for treatment, but they refused to accept COVID-19 patients.

Left with no option, the family got admitted to the Victoria hospital.

"We had reservations about the Victoria hospital, but it turned out be a good one. We did not spend a penny since the day we were admitted and my mother and son fully recovered," the woman's son said.

According to Dr Asima Banu, nodal officer of the Trauma Care Centre at the Victoria hospital, the woman was reluctant to get treatment at the hospital.

"With moral support from doctors and nurses at the Trauma Care Centre, she recovered very fast. She is always positive in life," the doctor said.

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