Doctors, 30 health workers test +ve in West Champaran

BETTIAH: Amid constant spike in cases, frontline warriors are falling ill in West Champaran even as majority of beds in the dedicated Covid facilities at the Government Medical College and MJK Hospital here are going abegging.
“The deputy superintendent of Bagaha sub-divisional hospital has been shifted to AIIMS-Patna. The superintendent of MJKH, deputy superintendent of Narkatiaganj sub-divisional hospital and a doctor at Majhaulia PHC, along with 30 health workers have tested positive so far,” West Champaran civil surgeon Arun K Singh said on Friday.
Some policemen, including 19 in Ramnagar, have also tested positive for the virus.
Altogether 734 people, including 98 reported on Friday, have been infected in the district so far.
Meanwhile, a video shot by an inmate of the Covid ward at the medical college here went viral on Friday. “My oxygen level is dipping ... seems I’ll die,” he pleads in the video, alleging callous treatment, poor food and unhygienic toilets there.
District magistrate Kundan Kumar, however, dismissed the charges. “Doctors responded to his call and the patient was found stable in all parameters,” he said, adding the patient wants constant attention by his bedside.
“A new roster of doctors is being prepared and there will now be a health card for every patient where vital statistics shall be noted after an examination every two hours,” Kumar told this newspaper.
It was, however, not ascertained if clinical psychologists too have been deployed at the hospital. Government Medical College principal Dr Binod Kumar did not respond to the calls.
The civil surgeon said the patient had sneaked in his cellphone. “Mobile phones are unsafe. They may carry the virus,” he said.
Surprisingly, while the Covid graph is in sharp upswing, 201 out of 232 beds in the two dedicated wards at the medical college hospital remain unoccupied. The DM attributed it to ‘people’s choice’. “Our protocols promote home isolation for asymptomatic patients,” he reasoned.
Meanwhile, a cloth trader (42) died at the medical college on Friday. Family members alleged that they had taken him to hospital for Covid test on Thursday evening.
As news of this purported Covid death spread, police reportedly escorted the bereaved family to the cremation ground outside the town. As three personnel in PPE kits carried the body to the pyre, villagers from the vicinity attacked the mourners. Police prevented the ugly scenes. Meanwhile, Meena Bazar, the commercial hub where the deceased trader ran his business, was sealed on Friday.