Hospital staff refuse to treat infected Tehsildar in Odisha

BERHAMPUR: Amid the steep spike in Covid- 19 cases in Ganjam, the fear of coronavirus seems to have been renewed in the district. Tehsildar of Kanisi, who met with an accident on Tuesday, faced this harsh reality after staff of a hospital refused to attend to him as they learnt that he was infected with coronavirus. The hospital staff did not have protective gear to handle the officer. The Tehsildar had tested positive last week and was admitted to the local Covid hospital. As his condition did not improve, he was referred to Aswini hospital, Cuttack on Tuesday.

Accordingly, an ambulance was arranged to shift him and a pharmacist was asked to accompany the official. During the journey, the ambulance met with an accident near Tangi bypass on NH-16 and the vehicle headed into a roadside field.

Both the Tehsildar and pharmacist as well as the driver sustained injuries. A local youth first spotted them and informed the officials of Tangi fire station rushed to the spot and shifted the three injured to the local hospital.

However, t//o th/m after being informed that the Tehsildar was a Covid- 19 patient. The pharmacist said, “All of us needed immediate treatment for our injuries. Besides, the patient was in urgent need of oxygen. But we were made to wait in the fire brigade vehicle for over 45 minutes. When the hospital staff came to know that the patient was an OAS officer, another Covid ambulance was arranged and we were taken to Aswini hospital.”