Shahbaaz Mohammed, who is from Hyderabad in India, had to leave his house when his all housemates tested positive for COVID-19.
“I never thought I’d be the guy who had no place to sleep. I had nowhere to go. So I had to sleep in my car for two consecutive nights,” says Shahbaaz Mohammed, an international student in Sydney.
Shahbaaz Mohammed, who is from Hyderabad in India, had to leave his house when his all housemates tested positive for COVID-19.
“I grabbed some fruit, one change of clothes and left the place within minutes of my friends’ test results arriving,” Shahbaaz told NRI Affairs.
However, Shahbaaz had no idea where to go and whom to contact. So sitting in his car near his Wiley Park home in Sydney’s southwest, Shahbaaz started calling for help, but in vain.
“I called NSW Health as well, but there was no response. I think I must have been on hold for over an hour but did not get any response,” says Shahbaaz, whose test came back negative. However, being a close contact, he had to self-isolate for 14 days.
“I spent two nights and a day in my car before one of my friends suggested that I contact Gurnam bhai,” says Shahbaaz.
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Gurnam Singh is the founder president of the Australian Indian Sports Educational & Cultural Society (AISECS), an organisation that works in the space of helping International students.
Gurnam Singh immediately spoke to NSW Health.
“I called them and some other authorities too. I emailed them too. They responded, saying they would do something, but nothing happened. So it became a kind of crisis. We did not want Shahbaaz to spend another night in the car,” Gurnam Singh told NRI Affairs.
He says he then contacted the ABC, who published a story about Shahbaaz Mohammed. According to Gurnam, the ABC report sent waves across the government departments, and Shahbaaz Mohammed finally received help from the authorities. He has now been placed in an apartment where he is self-isolating.
“A close contact of COVID-positive people was left high and dry. I think that is a serious situation. He could have been a carrier and might have infected so many other people. But, he acted responsibly and carefully isolated himself, which begs the question, did the authorities act responsibly enough,” asks Mr Singh.
