As Archit Jain headed home on Thursday, the doctors and staff at SRCC Children’s Hospital, Haji Ali, were emotional as well as ecstatic. They had developed a bond with the 9-year-old who received their care for five weeks, including 25 days in the ICU. At the same time, the case was a feather in their cap as Archit is one of the youngest and longest staying paediatric cases who beat Covid-19.

The Andheri child is likely to draw the attention of administrators and health experts considering the third wave of the pandemic is predicted to be harsh on children.
Dr Vinay Joshi, senior consultant in critical care and emergency medicine and under whom Archit was admitted, said the kid was brought from a western suburb hospital in a critical state and his oxygen requirement was 80 per cent even on a ventilator. “His lungs looked bad then. We started him on medications like remdesivir and steroids. We also gave him anti-clotting agents. He wasn’t maintaining blood pressure levels and we had to give him BP supportive medications,” said Dr Joshi.