3 days on, no patient turns up at 46 rural isolation centres in Rohtak

Villagers reluctant to shift, cite lack of healthcare facilities QUOTE: BASIC AMENITIES AVAILABLE: OFFICIAL “Basic facilities like beds, drinking water, toilet and medicines, etc have been made available in these centres while a health official will visit daily for the check up of patients. If a patient develops any health complications, they will be shifted to a hospital immediately.”

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– Mahesh Kumar, nodal officer of isolation centres

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rohtak, May 17

Isolation centres have been set up in 46 villages in the district to break the Covid chain but not a single patient has been admitted there in the past three days despite all efforts by the administration.

Villagers are reluctant to isolate themselves in the centres, citing the non-availability of health facilities there while the authorities say the move aims at providing space for isolation to those Covid patients who don’t have this option at home.

“How can patients move to an isolation centre that doesn’t have the facilities of medical treatment, doctor, supportive staff and medicines etc. Merely beds have been installed there. Patient needs at least an attendant to take water, meal and medicines, etc on bed but no staff is available there hence staying home is better than shifting to these centres,” said an ailing resident of Bainsi village.

Krishan Chhabra, sarpanch of Bainsi, told The Tribune that many people had been suffering from fever in the village but no facility of Covid test was available hence they were neither going to any other place for testing nor moving to isolation centres despite having no quarantine facility.

“A 10-bed isolation centre was established in the village three days ago but no doctor, nurse and medicines are available there. I have written to the Civil Surgeon to provide necessary medical facilities there,” said Chhabra, claiming that 25 villagers had died in the past month.

Similar is the situation in Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar’s native Nindana village, where over 20 people are infected but none of them is admitted to the isolation centre.

However, Deputy Commissioner Manoj Kumar is persistently visiting the Covid hotspot villages to encourage the villagers to isolate patients in the centres to break the chain of infection.

Meanwhile, Mahesh Kumar, CEO (DRDA)-cum-nodal officer of isolation centres, confirmed not a single patient had so far come to any of the 46 isolation centres in the district. “Basic facilities like beds, drinking water, toilet and medicines, etc have been made available in these centres while a health official will visit the place daily for the check up of patients. If needed, the patients developing any health complications will be shifted to a hospital immediately,” he said, adding that gram sachiv takes care of the centre while village sweeper daily sanitises it.