No Social distancing even in isolation ward of SMHS Hospital

By: Shayib Bhat

Srinagar: Dozens of female patients with symptoms of covid-19 admitted in isolation wards of SMHS Hospital without  any proper medical treatment, monitoring by doctors and nurses and even dozens of attendants are allowed to sit and sleep within this isolation ward.

At 9 PM in SMHS Hospital Srinagar this reporter witnessed pathetic conditions of patients and attendants with no sign of any authority or mechanism to run the hospital in this crisis. CMO room was open but he was not present when this reporter tried to enquire why the ambulance was not coming even after 2 hours to take an aged lady to designated COVID-19 hospital from this hospital after she was declared as covid-19 positive. She was waiting on a wheel chair with her attendant to be taken and the repeated enquires could evoke no response from hospital authorities.
Some attendants told this reporter that the isolation wards were not being sanitized properly and even the bathrooms of such sensitive ward remain unhygienic “ The lady who was on this bed has tested positive. Now a fresh patient with COVID-19 symptoms has been admitted and given the same bed without even sanitizing the bed ” said one of the attendants in the isolation ward in SMHS Hospital.
This is condition of Isolation wards and one can understand the condition of other normal wards of SMHS Hospital as very less number of employees were present during the evening hours on Saturday. Even the sweepers, Nurses and other paramedical staff were rarely present in the wards and no officer or senior doctor was present at 9 PM on Saturday at the Isolation ward.
There is no denying of the fact that there is surge in the covid-19 positive cases and the government should hold high level meetings to equip hospitals with doctors staff and equipment to deal with the situation. Otherwise it seems that it is very difficult to contain covid-19 cases especially within the hospital as people fear that they may get infection within the hospital because of lack of social distancing and over crowding in the wards.