Lying in his bed at the quarantine ward of Kasturba Hospital, Rahul has only one tool to fight his loneliness, his mobilephone through which he keeps in touch with his friends and family. Rahul, who tested positive for the H1N1 virus on Friday morning is also relieved that that there is another patient in the cubicle, a teenager, with whom he can talk. “If I get too bored, I call up my friends and my mom,” said Rahul.

What he is more relieved about is the cleanliness at the hospital. On Friday, Rahul told his friends and mom over the phone, “I got a new bed, the bedsheets are okay and the floors look clean.”

The relatives of other patients waiting outside also praised the doctors and the nurses for their efficiency.

There was a discordant note though. A suspected swine flu case admitted on Thursday alleged that the wardboys did not change her sheet, or that of a patient who was discharged, though she asked them repeatedly to do so. She, however, praised the doctors.

Meanwhile, the rush of people, wearing masks, who lined up at the hospital for checking whether they had the disease, continued on Friday.

There was some nervousness that could be detected among them, particularly when one of them, or the relatives of patients waiting outside, either coughed or sneezed.