In Mewat, 15 lakh people, only 250 isolation beds

TNN | Updated: Apr 6, 2020, 12:50 IST

Civil hospital

GURUGRAM: Mewat is not known for its healthcare infrastructure, and ever since the attendees from the Tablighi Jamaat at Nizamuddin have started returning, villagers are a worried lot. Many of the participants have tested positive for Covid-19.
In Marora village, the closest civil hospital is over 10 km away, and the dedicated Covid-19 hospital is over 30 km away. “If the virus spreads here, by the time we’ll realise it, almost the entire village will be infected. Houses here are in tight clusters, and even if people step out to go to toilets or to the fields, there’s hardly any concept of social distancing,” said Sonu, voicing the concerns of hundreds of families in the village.

The district has less than 250 isolation beds for a population of nearly 15 lakh people. The concerns have become pronounced as eight people tested positive of the 37 reports that have emerged from analysing 128 samples. People fear that if the government goes for mass testing, the number of positive cases may surpass the number of isolation beds that have been created.
Even home quarantine is a big challenge in the district because water supply is unreliable. “Washing hands every 2-3 hours is a luxury we don’t have. We barely manage water for cooking and cleaning the house. There are days when we don’t even get to take bath. All this is coming around as great mockery for us,” argued 60-year-old Islami, a resident of Marora village.
Another villager claimed that the Muslim colony which is separated by a narrow labyrinth has been deserted by the Hindu community. “Nobody even takes that route now.,” said Manoj, another resident of Marora village.
District administration has claimed that the returnees could not have met anyone as the district has been in lockdown since March 22.
But fact remains that most of the PHCs in the district are non-functional. While there are 450 medics and paramedics, there are only 60%-70% doctors (70) of the total sanctioned strength of over 100. This roughly translates to one government doctor per 21,500 people. This is way below the national average of one government doctor per 10,189 people and alarmingly below the 1:1000 ratio recommended by WHO.
“The entire medical staff is working round the clock. Over 2,000 quarantine beds have been created. Moreover, there are 215 isolation beds. Mandikhera Civil Hospital and Nalhar Medical College both are dedicated to serving patients and, there are talks to convert more colleges and school buildings into quarantine facility,” a district administration official told TOI.