●A reading of March 2020 to May 2021 from a residential area of factory workers●
## Eight feet by eight feet room. Or, nine feet by nine feet room. A family of four-five in a room. Or, three adults per room. This is factory workers’ housing. Food is cooked in the room. Absence of ventilation is the norm. For rented rooms, common toilets for ten-fifteen rooms. Common water-point.
Densely populated localities where factory workers reside are :
1). Factory workers built jhuggis ( shanties) at convenient open places in the initial stages of an industrial area. Allowed and demolished as per the changing needs of dominant interests in the area. Initially, shanties were made of mud. A shanty built on ten to twenty square metres area is common. For more than twenty years now, significant new shanty settlements have not been allowed by the governments. Stability and some resources have led to investments of a few hundred thousand rupees in many a shanty, transforming their appearance. Faridabad has 66 shanty clusters with a hundred thousand plus population.
2). Houses on plots of fifty to a hundred square meters bought by the previous generation of factory workers in unauthorised colonies set up by villagers on agricultural land. Rooms for rent have also been built in these plots. Most residential colonies in Faridabad have been unauthorised.
3). In dozens of villages whose agricultural lands have been acquired for industrial areas, rooms for rent have been built in areas that were previously residential areas in villages (+ on grabbed Commons land around the village). Ex-villagers have built dozens and dozens of rooms for rent.
## Factory workers residential areas are fertile breeding places for contagious diseases. Tuberculosis (TB) affects two million persons each year in India and around four hundred and fifty thousand succumb to this disease every year. Fear of TB is not visible in factory workers’ residential areas.
Fear amongst factory workers was very visible in the Bombay Plague of 1896-97. The bosses were not affected by that plague. The plague killed ten thousand in the densely populated areas. Of the eight hundred thousand population, four hundred thousand fled Bombay. The bosses did all that they could do to continue production in the factories. They doubled the wages, started daily payment, gave bonus everyday but still the bosses were able to keep only 65 thousand spindles operational out of two million spindles in the eighty-two mills in Bombay then.
## We have not come across fear of any significance with regard to covid-19 in factory workers’ residential areas that we are acquainted with. Rather, we have seen relaxed atmosphere during the corona-19 pandemic to-date. The number of deaths, due to covid-19 in factory workers residential areas to-date, seems to be very small.
● Regarding corona-19, it seems pertinent to read what a friend in Delhi has put in the public domain. This certainly seems to be of wider interest and the friend has had it translated in Hindi and Marathi languages. We see this as an articulation of a certain social strata. It hardly seems to be of any meaning/relevance for factory workers.
## The friend writes : “This information is based on some steps taken before I got admitted to hospital; my 9 days in hospital with moderate COVID-induced pneumonia; chats with doctors; and patients who have had COVID earlier.
1. If you suspect you have COVID :
a. Once you suspect you have COVID, I’d suggest the following at home :
— If you live with other members, totally isolate in a separate room. I stayed in one room for 4 days, lying or sitting up. When (my partner) and I had to communicate, she would only come until the door of the room and talk, but not enter. She wore a mask always at such times. I wore a mask only when talking to her. N-95 masks are best; cloth masks are a much less effective second option. We have the privilege of two bathrooms; we strictly used different bathrooms. If you have one bathroom in the house, others in the house can keep a gap of some time before using it. The virus largely spreads via small air droplets, so if possible, keeping as many doors and windows open is best. And even though the virus transmits much less via physical surfaces, we avoided sharing any plates for eating. The new strain of the virus is far more virulent than the strain last year, so it is better for other household members to assume they do have COVID and exercise the usual care when interacting with any visitors [wear mask, keep distance].
— drink LOTS of water and any other fluids such as juices. I was repeatedly asked in hospital how much water I had drunk since breakfast, how much since lunch, etc. Warm water helps if you have breathing difficulties. Gargling with Betadine helps greatly with the throat.
— very important: lying in specific positions (called proning): We usually lie down or sleep in 3 positions – on our backs, on either side left or right, or on one’s front/chest. The doctors and others said that lying down on one’s front is best for oxygen levels because the lungs are essentially closer to the back of the body than the front so it opens out the lungs better. In hospital, partly out of curiosity, I measured my oxygen levels in all these three positions and my oxygen levels were lowest when lying on my back, better when lying on either side, and highest when lying on my chest. Many people are not used to lying on their front, so start with small periods of 10‒15
minutes and increase the duration as you get more used to it. I was asked to reach a total time target on the chest [over multiple times] of 2 hours over a day. You are advised to keep a pillow under the stomach while lying on the chest. However, this is not always easy, particularly for stocky people. The many videos circulating around about this breathing technique do not account for each of our specific bodies and constraints. So, adapt and keep the pillow where you feel most comfortable, and adjust it based on your own comfort. It is more important to lie on one’s front than using a pillow or where exactly the pillow is placed.
b. At home, I measured my oxygen levels with an oximeter about 5‒6 times a day and looked for trends. If it falls to the early 90s, say 91‒93%, then talk to a doctor promptly. One
point : oximeter readings sometimes fluctuate quite widely and can start in the mid-to-late 80s before rising and stabilizing. So don’t get anxious about the very first number that shows up; wait for about 15 seconds to get a more accurate reading.
c. Of course monitor body temperature and any other symptoms like wheezing, breathlessness, or cough.
d. If some of these symptoms persist, book a blood test [having talked to a doctor]. Because of excess demand nowadays, labs are taking a few days to come home to take the test. The main metrics to measure are mainly CRP [measures inflammation], D-dimer [pertains to potential blood clot formation], and regular CBC, of which the first two are important. If needed, repeat the blood test after 2‒3 days for trends.
2. If you do not need hospitalization, what medicines to take at home [take any medication only after a doctor’s advice] :
Based on your background health conditions, all this can be usually treated with rest and the breathing methods above. Medication at home :
Azithromycin tablets, 500 mg, once a day, a common-prescribed antibiotic in the COVID context, but only to be taken follow a doctor’s advice Paracetomol 650 mg, if you have persistent fever Zincovit vitamin tablets, once a day Vitamin C 500 mg, twice a day D-Rise vitamin sachet 60,000 units, once a week. If the fever does not come down despite Paracetomol, you may need further medication, but they are to be taken only following a doctor’s advice. Having followed all this, if your oxygen levels dip or if the other two indicators rise abruptly, then promptly consult a doctor about going to a hospital. I got admitted when my oxygen levels fell to 93%, but then I am also a long-time asthmatic. Calculate your first day of any symptoms soon, whether cough, breathlessness, or fever. This is because the period Day 7‒Day 11 is significant; it is when the COVID virus is most potent; also, your doctor will ask you about this. In my case, oxygen levels fell to 93% around day 7 after my symptoms first began, but these can of course vary between individuals. My CRP numbers rose from 30 to 129 in the second blood test taken at home 3 days later. This combination of oxygen falling, CRP rising, and being an asthmatic is what warranted hospitalization. Your doctor’s advice would be based on your specific numbers and background health conditions.
3. In hospital :
A couple of things helped me a great deal mentally. I took each day, day-by-day, and would not think about anything beyond that day. In addition to the breathing exercises described above, I did alom-vilom quite regularly, the slow alternative nostril breathing technique that is the core balancing part of Pranayam. It helps ease the breathing, calms the mind, and helps pass time 🙂 Easily learnt on YouTube if you haven’t done it before. In addition, eating slowly and lots in hospital helps in case you are being pumped with multiple antibiotics and steroids for a number of days, as I was. If so, push yourself to eat more even if you have a loss of appetite.
4. Post-hospital :
Some of the following may be specific to me, because I got COVID-induced pneumonia.
Have experienced extreme fatigue since discharge from hospital a few days ago. Also, a sharp loss of weight over this period, which is very likely if your illness drags on for more than a few days. The most important response – which I was advised on discharge – is a protein-rich diet – for vegetarians, dals, tofu, chana, beans, and eggs if you eat eggs. For those who eat non-veg, chicken, meat, and fish are very useful. And lots of rest,
accompanied by the same measures mentioned above – lots of water, and the breathing positions.”
We will start with some details from March 2020 in the next part.
(To be continued.)
— 12 May 2021, Majdoor Samachar/Kamunist Kranti