SAMBALPUR: The Cardiology department of VIMSAR has not been functioning for the last three days as 13 of its staff including two doctors and a consultant have been quarantined after coming in contact with a Covid-19 positive patient. Procedures like angiogram and angiplasty are not being performed at the hospital. On June 20, a man from Bargarh district was admitted to the Cardiology department for treatment. In the evening, he was found Covid positive following the authorities initially quarantined five staff members who had come in direct contact with him.
The rest were isolated later as the authorities suspect they too must have come in contact with the patient. The department is now functioning with skeletal staff and a few of its services have been affected. Patients suffering from cardiac ailments from western Odisha as well as nearby states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh depend on the hospital for affordable treatment. Vital procedures like angiogram and angioplasty are performed free-of-cost at the facility.
On usual days, at least six patients visit the hospital for angiogram of which at least two undergo the procedure. Now, left with no option, they are forced to visit private healthcare facilities where angiography costs `15,000 or more. The cost of angioplasty in such clinics can go up to `1 lakh. Associate professor of Cardiology SK Sharma said the quarantined staff can resume duties only after completing the 14-day quarantine and proper screening.