An 18-year-old boy Shiva from Telangana decided to build himself a COVID ward, a bed made of bamboo sticks fastened to the branches of a tree in the compound of his home, when he tested positive for COVID on May 4.

Living in Kothanandikonda in the Nalagonda district, Telangana, Shiva said that village volunteers told him to stay at home and isolate him from his family.

Due to the lack of an isolation centre in his village, Shiva came up with the idea of isolating on the tree. He has spent 11 days on the tree so far.

He said, "There was no isolation centre here. Two days ago, they converted the ST hostel into a centre. Up until then, we had nothing and I don't know if there are any such centres in other villages. I don't think so. What else can I do?"

"I don't know if the village volunteers told the sarpanch about me testing positive. No one in my village came forward to help me. They're all scared of the virus... they're not stepping out of their homes," he added.

Sources said that the tree is within the compound of his home. He had fashioned a pulley system using rope and a bucket. His daily meals and other requirements are sent to him using this pulley system. On the tree, Shiva spends much of this time on his phone, which he keeps in a tiny basket tied to the tree.

Pursuing a graduate course in Hyderabad, he had returned to his village about a month ago when cases in the city were rising. According to the reports, his house has only one washroom, built inside the home, so he goes out to the fields after sunset.

His mother said, "My husband and I are daily wage workers and Shiva has two siblings. My son understood that if we get infected, then it would be difficult for the family to survive with no earnings. The ASHA workers told us to isolate him, but did not ask us if we had a provision to isolate him at home. We travelled 5 kms to reach the nearest PHC, but there were no beds there. Where would we keep him?"

Seeing all the odds and lack of provisions, Shiva moved to stay on the tree.

Kothanandikonda is home to about 350 families and is one of the many tribal hamlets under the Adavidevulapally mandal in the district. The nearest primary health centre (PHC) is 5 km away and people of these hamlets have to travel 30 km for a hospital in case of a critical medical emergency, residents said.