Naseer Vatanapally, a native of Thrissur district, hasn't taken a moment’s rest since March 16 until he was forced to do so on April 7. The 42-year-old social worker who has been helping Kerala expats in the UAE was diagnosed with COVID-19 and admitted to a hospital in Dubai.
This businessman had been busy helping those who were stranded in Dubai in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. He reached out to people who live in labour camps to get them tested for the novel coronavirus, helping them to shift to hospitals and other safe places for quarantine and also made sure that people get their food on time.
It was in the beginning of April he showed symptoms like cough, throat infection and mild headache. Since he was in charge of many coronavirus testing drives in Dubai, it was easy for him to get tested. Naseer’s samples tested positive.
Speaking to TNM from Medeor Hospital in Dubai, Naseer said he wasn't bothered or scared about getting infected as his priority was to get the maximum number of people to safe zones at the earliest.
"It was in mid March when a Kasaragod native tested positive after reaching Kerala that a group of 14 people who stayed with this person in a room in Naif contacted me saying they are stranded and that they are scared to go out. I reached there and also informed the health and police departments. They were tested inside their room and were shifted to isolation. The day after this incident I got numerous calls from Naif and many other parts of the city. It was then I realised that many are in need of help," he said.
Since then, Naseer has been fully involved in helping those stranded, especially Malayali expats in Dubai. He said he had distributed food to at least 10,000 people including labourers from other countries who work in Dubai.
"I brought food to the labour camps and rooms where people live in groups, arranged vehicles for them to get tested, shifted them to hospitals and arranged rooms for isolation and so on," he said.
After two days of volunteering, the father of three children realised that he may be at risk of getting infected, and decided to live away from his family.
"I requested for isolation and the Dubai police arranged a hotel room for me to live in. I had used gloves and masks, but somehow I got infected," he said. "In the beginning, people advised me not to do this as it's a risky job. But after a few days, they themselves joined me in my work. By the end of March we had a team of about 50 people," he said.
In early April, Naseer began showing symptoms. "Initially I did not take it seriously as it was just an irritation in the throat. I was managing a testing camp at two hospitals here. So I decided to get tested and it turned positive," he said, adding that he is only worried that he couldn't continue his mission. He has reportedly helped more than 2,000 people in Dubai in a short span.
Naseer added that the Dubai administration was doing an excellent job managing the COVID-19 pandemic. UAE has recorded more than 3,300 coronavirus cases as of now and 16 deaths. More than 400 patients have recovered.