BJP questions Odisha government's preparedness to tackle COVID

The BJP questioned the preparedness of the Odisha government to handle a situation like Delhi and Maharashtra in the State.
For representational purposes (Photo | PTI)
For representational purposes (Photo | PTI)

BHUBANESWAR: AS the second wave of the Covid-19 continues to be in the upward swing raising concerns over the inadequate health infrastructure, the BJP on Tuesday questioned the preparedness of the State government to handle a situation like Delhi and Maharashtra in the State.

Pointing to the spike manifesting prominently in rural areas, State BJP spokesperson Golak Mohapatra said the State government’s tall claim that it is fully prepared to tackle the situation sounds hollow when nearly half of the sanctioned post of doctors and paramedical staff in primary health centres (PHCs) and community health centres are lying vacant.

Alleging that many district hospitals do not have ICUs, Mohapatra said critical Covid affected patients from rural pockets are referred to their nearby medical colleges and hospitals adding pressure to these already burdened health institutions.

Echoing similar concern, BJP MLA from Deogarh Subash Panigrahi told this paper that the district headquarters hospital has no oxygen and ventilator. Even if a ventilator is supplied, there is no trained doctor in the district to operate, he added.

“I could not manage to admit one of my relatives whose condition worsened after being affected by coronavirus, in VSS Medical College and Hospital, Burla as the ICU was full. I had to use my contact at Raipur in Chhattisgarh to get him admitted in a private hospital there,” he said.

Though the Covid situation in Deogarh district was comparatively better, it is changing fast due to the return of migrant workers from Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand.

With no temporary medical centres (TMC) to keep these returnees in isolation, more and more Covid cases are being reported. The district administration expressed its helplessness to open TMCs without instruction from the State government, he added.

There is no ICU facility in Boudh and Nabarangpur districts while several other districts like Angul, Bhadrak, Bargarh, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Rayagada and Subarnapur have either 10 or less ICU beds, said Mohapatra.

“The Covid-19 preparedness of the State government is evident from disturbing reports coming from Balangir where patients are seen using oxygen inside their vehicles as there were no beds in hospital there and private hospitals in the State capital refusing admission to critical patients,” Mohapatra alleged.

While the actual requirement of doctors in the PHCs is 6,688, the sanctioned posts are 1,326 of which 409 posts are lying vacant. The situation is worse in the CHCs where the number of vacancies of doctors is 1,276.

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