Hospitals ‘deny’ treatment to Rohtas youth with Covid-19 symptoms

PATNA: The family members of a 22-year-old youth, who returned from Pune on Monday, have alleged that their son has been refused treatment despite showing symptoms related to Covid-19 virus. Pune, where he works at a cement factory, was placed under lockdown by the Maharashtra government recently.
The family from Darihat in Rohtas district is running from pillar-to-post for his treatment.The youth’s father, Awadhesh Singh, said his son, Sikandar, fell sick soon after he returned home from Pune on Monday. “We took him to a private hospital at Dehri-on-Sone from where he was referred to the government sub-divisional hospital after his condition deteriorated on Tuesday,” he added.
The victim’s family had to persuade the staff at the sub-divisional hospital to get him admitted for treatment. “But as soon as the para-medical staff got to know about Sikandar having symptoms of coronavirus, they asked us to shift him to Narayan Medical College and Hospital at Jamuar near Sasaram in Rohtas district for better treatment,” he said.
Shockingly, Sikandar was denied admission there and reportedly asked by the staff on duty to take him to home. “My repeated pleas to get him admitted fell on deaf ears at the Narayan Medical College and Hospital,” said his brother Shailendra, who had accompanied him.
Seeing no hope, they brought him back home after taking advise from a local private medical practitioner.
“I contacted government officials right from the sub-divisional level to the state headquarters but to no avail. Even the Rohtas district magistrate as well as the SDO of Dehri-on-Sone didn’t take notice of my repeated request,” said the hapless father.
When contacted, Rohtas civil surgeon Dr Janardan Sharma said, “As soon as the matter came to my knowledge, I directed officials of Narayan Medical College and Hospital to get the patient admitted. I am not getting connected to the family to convey this message.”
The PRO of Narayan Medical College and Hospital, Surendra Singh, however, denied the charge levelled by the victim’s relative. “We have created an isolation ward of 25 beds to provide treatment to patients with coronavirus symptoms,” he said, adding, six samples were sent to RMRI in Patna for test. Earlier, the test reports of two suspected patients were found to be negative.
The ordeal of the family, however, didn’t end there. A police officer deputed at the Dehri town police station intercepted the vehicle carrying the patient for treatment. “He (cop) was asking for money to allow the vehicle to move on the road as there was lockdown in the entire state,” lamented Shailendra, who had returned from Pune with Sikandar on Monday.
Both brothers left Pune for home on March 21 after senior officials of the factory in which they worked told them about the lockdown and closure of the factory for indefinite period. “We will contact you once the situation normalises,” Shailendra quoted the factory officials as saying.
The journey from Pune to Dehri-on-Sone in Rohtas was not an easy task. “We alighted from the train at Mughalsarai (now Dindayal Upadhyay) railway station from where we caught another train to reach Dehri-on-Sone. As there was lockdown, we had to pay a hefty sum to the auto-rickshaw driver to reach home,” Shailendra added.