Not easy to give Covid sample here

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 15

People who turn up for Covid testing were a harried lot as they had to wait for long for their turn at the sample collection centre in Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital on Thursday.

According to the Covid-19 protocol, apart from residents who either are contacts of positive patients or have any symptoms, patients coming to the Civil Hospital OPD, including pregnant women, are required to give their samples for testing.

Rajni Sharma, a resident of New Amritsar, complained, “We had reached the centre at 11 am but nobody collected our samples till 1.30 pm. The general public was waiting helplessly at the centre but no health employee was available for the task.”

Karanveer Kaur, attendant of a pregnant woman, said, “We reached the centre around 10 am but till 2 pm our sample was not collected.” She blamed the administration for making poor arrangements at the centre.

They complained that though a few fans had been installed at the waiting shed, most of the time they remain switched off. “There also are no arrangements to ensure social-distancing and lives of many people are at risk as many of those who wait at the centre for a test might be Covid-positive,” rued another visitor.

The visitors demanded that in view of the summer season, proper arrangements should be made at the centre and also more sample collection booths be set up. “It is the duty of the administration to ensure the safety and comfort of the employees and the staff must ensure that no patient suffers due to any laxity,” said a visitor Balbir Singh.

Meanwhile, officials of the Health Department stated that a problem was reported from the hospital and they would look into it. “If needed, more employees would be deployed to collect samples,” said a senior functionary.