Baripada: A purported video of COVID hospital in Mayurbhanj district shared on social media has belied tall claims of the Odisha government on the proper treatment being extended to patients afflicted with the virus.
In the video, a patient can be seen lying under a washbasin, one near the toilet and another lying naked on the floor.
Speaking to the media, Bibhudutta Dash of Palabani area, on the outskirts of Baripada town, said he had admitted his relative to the COVID hospital in Baripada on May 22. As his condition deteriorated, he was shifted to another COVID hospital at Bankisole, about 10 km from Baripada town where the hospital authorities informed him about his death at 1 pm on May 23.
He said that he got some photographs and the video last night. “In the video, I saw my kin sitting on the bed without bed sheet and pillow and wearing a towel. There are some oxygen cylinders in the ward. But there is no one to operate them. There are no staff nurses and doctors to attend to the patients,” he pointed out.
“The government is spending a huge amount towards the treatment of the COVID patients. But where is the money going and to whom? Dash asked.
Collector Vineet Bhardwaj told the media that efforts are on to install CCTVs in the hospital to monitor the activities and fill in the gaps.
Claiming that the COVID hospitals in the districts are running smoothly and the complaints of the patients and attendants have been redressed, he said that such incidents should not be generalised.
“The doctors, staff nurses and health workers are responsibly discharging their duties in the COVID hospitals. We should respect them as they are doing their job by putting their lives at risk. In case there any lacunae in any hospital, we will certainly rectify them. We are doing our best to make these hospitals function smoothly as top-class units,” the collector added.
