Like a VIP: Kerala vlogger chronicles his journey to the coronavirus isolation ward

Kerala-based vlogger, Shakir Subhan’s video on his journey in the isolation ward has gone viral across news and social media sites.

Shakir Subhan, whose YouTube channel Mallu Traveler has over 6.5L subscribers, was on a motorcycling trip across Gulf countries and flew to India after visiting Iran, Azerbaijan, and a few other countries under the scanner for the coronavirus outbreak. On landing in Kannur, medical officials and travellers moved aside to make way for him.

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A cheerful Shakir, with an N-95 mask, documented his movement from the airport to the ward, which he found efficient and clean, albeit lonely.

With the gloom surrounding the disease-- a rising death toll, deserted cities, accounts of racism, fear of stigma, families stranded in cruises in foreign lands and global economies crashing-- Subhan’s video account attempts to dispel the stigma and fear around the novel coronavirus.

Chronicling his three days in the ward, the vlogger urged his viewers to not hide their travel histories and have themselves tested at the earliest to help curb the disease from spreading.

Praising the health facilities in Kerala and detailing his diet, Subhan recounts missing the tea and banana fritters when he was away. The only issues he faced in the hospital seemed to be mosquitoes and irregular water supply.

Subhan was released on March 8, after it was confirmed that he tested negative for COVID-19. He made a series of three videos accounting his time at the ward.

The number of positive coronavirus cases in Kerala were 14, while the total number of cases in India stood at 62.