Kolkata: With several hospitals in the city and neighbouring Howrah district ceasing operations after patients admitted there died due to COVID-19, people here have been largely inconvenienced, some having to do without treatment for their ailments over the past week.
Apart from Charnock Hospital, SS Chatterjee Heart Clinic and state-run Howrah General Hospital -- which have completely shut down operations -- specific wards of RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, NRS Medical College and Hospital and the Calcutta Medical College have also stopped functioning for the time being, with authorities there working to get the premises sanitised, an official said.
The decision to shut down these facilities has affected many patients, who needed immediate treatment, but the move was necessitated to ensure the safety of people and medical professionals, the health department official said.
A senior official at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH), however, said that the number of patients visiting the facility for regular treatment has reduced since the imposition of the lockdown.
"After COVID-19 patients died here and our doctors and nurses were found to have contracted the disease, we had to close some wards for sanitisation. Notices have been put up in this regard outside the hospital building," he said.
Rohit Agarwal, a resident of Salt Lake, said he was at a loss trying to figure out where to take his father for his weekly dialysis, with Charnock Hospital having shut down. "Charnock Hospital is closer to my place and my ailing father can't travel for long... Also, amid the restrictions, finding another nearby hospital that would provide requisite services seems difficult. I don't know what to do." he said. According to the health department official, nearly 250 doctors, nurses, support staff as well as patients from the aforementioned hospitals have been put in isolation.
"It takes around 7 to ten days to complete the sanitisation process. Even the doctors and the nurses who tested positive require a minimum of 14 days time to recover. Our priority is to keep a check on the spread of COVID-19 so that patients visiting the hospitals do not stand the chance of getting infected," the official said.
Indrajit Dolui, a resident of Noapukur, complained that his wife, suffering from gynaecological problems, had been "practically lying unattended at RG Kar hospital" over the past few days.
"She has been keeping unwell... I think I might have to look for a doctor elsewhere, at some other hospital. There, too, chances of infection remain..." he added.
PTI Report
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