No room for laxity

The Covid-19 pandemic has worryingly been relegated to the sidelines in Punjab, even though the state’s fatality rate continues to be among the highest in the country. Over the past week or so, the spotlight has been on the farmers’ protests against the agriculture-related Bills and the political one-upmanship over the issue. With the state government going soft on the protesters, big gatherings in violation of social distancing norms have become a common sight, heightening the risk of rapid spread of infection. Punjab had been struggling to contain the virus even before the farmers’ agitation started, and the situation has only worsened of late.

The gross neglect of patients is exemplified by the death of an elderly woman at Government Rajindra Hospital in Patiala on Sunday. She somehow went out of the ICU by herself and fell unconscious on the stairs of a Covid ward. Left unattended for about 45 minutes, she was eventually taken back to the ICU and put on ventilator support. However, the woman died a few hours later. The bizarre turn of events points to dereliction of duty by doctors and paramedics in the ward.

A high proportion of people suffering from non-communicable diseases and the increasing elderly population are being cited by medical experts as the main reasons for Punjab’s high Covid fatality rate. Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Sunday blamed the irresponsible behaviour of people for the surge in coronavirus cases in the country. Punjab is no exception in this regard. Indeed, state Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu recently attributed the fast-rising death toll to the ‘unhealthy’ lifestyle of Punjabis, carelessness among the people and the arrival of NRIs. All these factors are significant to some extent, but there is no denying that the state badly needs to improve its healthcare infrastructure to meet the unprecedented challenge. Accountability should be fixed promptly whenever any act of negligence by the health staff is reported. There should also be no relaxation when it comes to enforcing Covid safety norms. Punjab will sink deeper into the mire if the government lifts its foot off the pedal.

Join Whatsapp Channel of The Tribune for latest updates.