Mobile phones banned in UP's Covid-19 hospitals

Lucknow, May 24

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has banned Corona patients from keeping mobile phones inside isolation wards of COVID-19 hospitals in the state.

Patients admitted in dedicated L-2 and L-3 COVID-19 hospitals will no longer be allowed to take mobile phones along with them in the isolation wards in order to check the spread of the infection.

According to an order issued by the state government late on Saturday night, two mobile phones will now be available with the ward in-charge of the COVID-19 care centres so that patients and talk to their family members and administration if required.

Further, the orders specify that the mobile numbers should be communicated to the family members of the patients also.

Director General Medical Education, K.K. Gupta, who issued the order, has informed all concerned officials and directors of dedicated COVID-19 hospitals.

अगर मोबाइल से संक्रमण फैलता है तो आइसोलेशन वार्ड के साथ पूरे देश में इसे बैन कर देना चाहिए. यही तो अकेले में मानसिक सहारा बनता है. वस्तुतः अस्पतालों की दुर्व्यवस्था व दुर्दशा का सच जनता तक न पहुँचे, इसीलिए ये पाबंदी है. ज़रूरत मोबाइल की पाबंदी की नहीं बल्कि सैनेटाइज़ करने की है.

— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) May 24, 2020

"To facilitate the communication between COVID-19 patients admitted in clinics, with their family members, or anyone else, ensure that two dedicated mobile phones while adhering to infection prevention norms, are kept with ward in-charge of COVID-19 care centre," the order said.

According to the latest data available on the website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Uttar Pradesh now has 5,735 cases of corona positive patients and the numbers have been growing steadily since the past ten days.

Questioning the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to prohibit coronavirus patients from using mobile phones inside isolation wards of COVID-19 hospitals, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said the ban was put in place to hide the “poor condition” of hospitals in the state.             

In a tweet in hindi, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said: “If infection spreads through mobile phones, then they should be banned across the country. Mobile phones provide mental support and help cope with loneliness.”       

“In fact, the ban has been put in place, so that the truth about the poor condition of hospitals does reach the common public. The need is to sanitise mobile phones and not impose a ban on them,” he said.

Director General Medical Education K K Gupta has directed all the medical universities, institutes, private and government hospitals to ban the use of mobile phones by COVID-19 patients admitted in L-2 and L-3 COVID-19 hospitals.

He also directed in-charge of COVID-19 hospitals be provided two mobile phones, so that patients admitted there could speak to there family members and vice-versa. Agencies

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